The Maturing Crypto Job Market

Since the last bull market, we’ve seen a slight fall in the number of crypto jobs available. But, as professional recruiters, we think the market for hiring is as strong as it’s ever been, especially for experienced candidates.

If you are fortunate enough to have been in crypto for three or more years, this is a prime job market for you. Companies are looking for candidates with a track record and specialization. Our advice: Stay in your lane and avoid being the generalist.

A quick LinkedIn search for profiles containing the keyword “blockchain” on their resumes produces 152,000 results while “crypto” shows 119,000. This is a decline from the peak employment in crypto at about 211,000 mid-2021 due to bear markets, inflation, and layoffs affecting the job market.

The industry has been hit hard since the last bull cycle, but it’s not all bad news. Professionals in crypto are loyal and we, as recruiters, don’t see anyone leaving; we only see more qualified candidates looking to join the space.

Our LinkedIn DMs and emails are full of people all over the world sharing their resumes and asking for advice on how to transition to Web3.

Compared to 2021, when we had a huge influx of people rushing to crypto, we are seeing a much larger talent pool of candidates with two to four years’ industry experience. This is a milestone for this young industry because talent is more developed, teams have more hiring options, and companies don’t have to use as many resources for onboarding.

Although the depth of candidate experience has increased, the talent pool must continue to expand in order to keep up with industry growth predictions for the years to come. Competition in hiring roles for protocol engineers and developer relations leaders is stronger than ever due to the rise in expectation of industry experience and demand for core company roles that make up founding teams.

Some recent trends from our job board:

• Three firms reached out in the span of two days about hiring a protocol engineer
• There has been an uptick in listings for compliance and legal roles during 2024
• Candidates with a portfolio/personal brand are much more likely to score a first-round interview.

Crypto twitter remains a great outlet for gaining credibility through personal brand building. We know many candidates that get contacted personally by CEOs and executives through X personal accounts. When recruiting, our team considers X profiles to be a strong complement to resumes and portfolios. We even see an opportunity for LinkedIn to become a prime platform for the Web3 community, provided candidates can post engaging content.

Staying active on X, attending conferences, and leveraging your specialization in your experience will be the best way to position yourself in this market. Find the people that want to help because this is an industry of professionals that win and help others win.

The support is evident through tough moments such as:

After a recent layoff at Matter Labs, the co-founder posted on X the letter he sent to employees accounting the difficult decision. Comments from executives and hiring managers flooded the reply section with support and opportunities for those affected. Our advice: Lean into the warm crypto culture and never forget the strength of the community this industry was built on.

Despite what may seem like challenges and setbacks for crypto from the outside, we are seeing the strongest talent pool to date, fierce competition in hiring, and candidates interviewing with many companies at a time.

Candidates with the most success in the job market display a combination of a personal brand, strong network, and know how to leverage their specific skill sets. The biggest trends we see out of this are portfolios, in-person events, and specialized/customized resumes.

The future looks very promising for this seasoned talent pool dedicated to the crypto and blockchain ethos. As more teams build with strong talent, we’ll likely see a new cycle of growth that will continue to welcome new professionals eager to join this vibrant industry.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.