My background

I study Sociology and Communications, and traditionally speaking, many students find themselves in Human Resources or Public Relations upon graduation. Having interned at a PR firm, I know that it is not what I want to do.

Sitting at the precipice of the creator economy, the demand for content is high. I started writing for blogs and picked up multiple freelance gigs and before my third year, I had a steady stream of income from just putting my thoughts onto this digital space.

I learned early that no one cares about what you do, instead, they care about what you can do for them.

That’s when I learned how to pitch. From internships to freelance gigs to paying clients at my content agency, I realised that understanding demand and knowing how package your skills meant that you can sell anything.

Here is a quick timeline of my journey to give you a better understanding of how I got to where I am.

My timeline of gigs since 2018.

Reflecting on past experiences

My “break into crypto” happened around 2021. Prior to that, my past gigs and experiences helped shape my tone, style and taught me how to navigate pitching, planning and even leading teams.

This was key because most people in web3 have no idea what is going on (including myself). Having people that can lead was useful to many project founders because it meant it was one less thing for them to think about.

Fast forward to today,I can confidently take on roles and my knowledge of web3 and DeFi serves as a competitive advantage.

Oh right, I’m also a content strategist at a pretty big crypto exchange now :)

Here’s how I did it.

Guide to Breaking Into Crypto

Figure out your niche

I’m going to preface this statement with the quote, “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” When I use the term niche, I mean get very very good at something, but continue to upskill and look for areas where your skills from this niche are transferable.

For example, I knew that writing was one of my skills, but does it mean that my job scope was limited to writing? Not at all. If you think about it, writing is really about communicating, convincing and informing. From here there are many things someone with “writing skills” can do.

If you Google “writer skills, this is what you’ll see:

• Ability to research.
• Knowing the target audience
• Vivid understanding of SEO
• Proofreading and editing skills
• Organisation and management skills

Remember that skills can be learnt and it’s best to build off your base capabilities.

To contextualise it, I’ve worked as a copywriter, UX writer, Digital Marketer, Content Strategist, Social Media Manager, Public Relations executive, UX researcher, interviewer, brand partnerships, sales, business development and journalist.

All these skills require a great understanding of the target audience and the ability to extract insights and make them work in your favour. In other words, lots of things are about framing. My baseline competencies revolve around the written word, but if you distil it further, it really is about communication.

This means that my role can be expanded from writer to content strategist, product marketer, digital marketer and so much more.

You can apply this to pretty much anything.

Look for related roles in crypto space

Now that you’ve identified what you like, it’s time to look for roles in the crypto space. I do this by trawling LinkedIn and various web3 job boards.

First, I’d go to a top crypto project/company and look at the job roles that are available. To be more specific, look for the keywords associated with the role before doing a wider search.

For example, I would look for “content writer crypto” or “marketing jobs crypto”. That being said, here are a few job sites/portals you can use to look for crypto jobs.

• LinkedIn
• Indeed
• Cryptojobs
• PompCryptoJobs
• Crypto-Careers
• Cryptocurrency Jobs
• Blockew
• Crypto Recruit
• Daily Ape HR

Learn to sell yourself

Due to how this space is fresh with talent- you need to show the people looking to hire you that you’ve got what it takes. To do so, you gotta promote and shill yourself, aka let them know what you utility is and why your price will pump in a few months.

1. Get it and learn the lingo

After a few engagements, I’ve come to realise that a lot of people are kinda building a lot of nothing. When you are interviewing for a promising project (actually solving a real problem) knowing the pain points and criticising the current outlook will work in your favour.

Getting it is important because the crypto community IS exclusive. They can tell you they want mass adoption all they want, but chances are they are not that keen on normies. Nothing wrong with being one, but showing that you speak the same language can help in building rapport and camaraderie.

2. Have what it takes

Do your research and figure out what the project is about and tell them why you would fit in. Show them that you know what you’re talking about and can do the job they need you to do. One way to do this is to show them your past experiences.

A good first step into crypto is freelancing or working part-time before leaping into crypto full-time. This gives you XP and helps you build a portfolio.

It helps that projects looking for freelancers are a little less discerning so it might be easier to get a gig as opposed to full-time engagement.

Crypto sites for freelancers:

• AnyTask
• Jobs4Bitcoins
• Blocklancer
• Bitfortip
• Latium

On these platforms, you get paid in crypto for your services. You can also look at popular freelancing platforms like UpWork or Fiverr that have many crypto gigs available and crypto-focused freelancers.

Teach yourself the basics

Start from applications and go down to infrastructure. By nature, the applications are way easier to understand, just like how figuring out how Instagram works is way easier than understanding how the Internet works.)

Here’s the thing, you don’t need to be an expert for most things. But you need to be scrappy and be willing to adapt. That is afterall, is the nature of this new landscape.

So dabble! Buy some crypto, play a P2E game, make a random NFT purchase. Find out what people are really building in the space and what problems are being solved.

How? Get on Twitter and LinkedIn and follow some key opinion leaders. Engage with their content and maybe tap onto their network.

Youtube is also a wonderful resource to learn about Blockchain and other technical terms. Tutorials, analyses and opinion pieces are available for perusal too.

💡Tip: The only thing I’d caution you is on shilling of projects. Many KOLs are engaged to talk about projects that often end up in rug pulls. So focus on education > making a quick buck.

NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK

As the age old adage goes, “who you know, not what you know” chances are, the likelihood of you getting a gig increases significantly when you have namedrop power.

“I am a writer” vs “I am a freelance writer, my past clients include coinbase and Algorand” As with most things, credibility helps.

Personally, I just kept writing and having conversations with people about things I was interested in. This helped me to grow my network and made me visible to potential clients.

How to grow your network on LinkedIn

1. Optimise your profile
2. Find people you want to connect with
3. Write a personalised message
4. Post your own content

Other networking opportunities

As for other opportunities, join telegram groups and look around on event sites for topics that you’re interested in.

Here is a quick search on eventbrite. For global events, use meetup.

The more people you meet, the more groups you can potentially join. So remember to optimise all your profiles and get a digital name card if you can.

Document your journey

This step is optional but as mentioned at the start, we’re living in the creator economy. Everyone is a content creator. You don’t need to be a TikTok star or an influencer going on shoots to share your thoughts. You can document your experiences, knowledge, and learnings so that others can benefit. The key to content creation is value provision.

For more professional use, LinkedIn reach is great if you post and interact with others. This further enhances your profile and gives people a chance to get to know you better, boosting your chances of engagement/employment.

Because of this, creating some sort of digital portfolio is no longer a standout feature, it almost becomes a necessity, so do what you can and remember that your experience is worth sharing about.

To summarise, take initiative and put yourself out there. Happy learning everyone!