Cryptocurrency prices soar, job-seeking freezes.
When Bitcoin breaks $110,000 and Ethereum hits a new historical high, the community shouts, "The bull market is here"; but in the recruitment market, it is a different scene.
The media headline "10,000 people squeeze into 28 positions" may seem a bit exaggerated, but it reflects the true job-seeking situation in Web3. Companies are laying off staff, job positions are drastically reduced, and job application resumes are filling up inboxes.
In the Moments, Web3 headhunter Nancy couldn't help but exclaim: "This year's recruitment requirements are getting higher and higher, not only requiring academic qualifications and English proficiency but also vertical project experience."
Behind the superficial prosperity lies a Web3 job market that is shrinking, picky, and cruel. The bull market effect in the crypto market and the industry's 'breaking circles' have drawn countless young people and Web2 transferees in, but they soon discover that there aren't as many positions as they imagined, and salaries are not as high as they thought.
Why is there a 'bull market uproar, yet a job market winter'?
When the myth of high salaries and the survivorship bias lure newcomers in, how many can truly find their footing in this seemingly bustling yet secretly turbulent Web3 job market?
Cryptocurrency prices soar, while employment faces a winter.
The recruitment market for Web3 often serves as the most authentic barometer of the industry.
Bitcoin breaks $110,000, Ethereum hits a new high, and everywhere in the media are voices proclaiming 'the bull market is here', but the truth in the job market is starkly different.
The founder of the Web3 recruitment community abetterweb3, Antoniayly, has clearly sensed this contrast: "The job market has been worsening for a long time, the number of job seekers is constantly increasing, but the number of job openings is continuously declining."
In the past, abetterweb3 predominantly published job postings, but now it has increasingly become a 'job-seeking information wall'. For example, from August 22 to 27, there were only 14 new job postings, while job-seeking information reached as high as 24.
The numbers reveal a harsh reality, as project parties are undergoing large-scale 'downsizing': even the staking protocol Lido, which stands at the forefront of Ethereum, has ruthlessly cut 15% of its workforce, while the once-glorious metaverse leader Sandbox has laid off 50%.
The primary market remains depressed, with many once-flourishing crypto VCs either shutting down or choosing to lie flat. Without external VC blood transfusions, many projects that relied on financing have quietly closed down or turned to the AI sector for survival.
The job market is characterized by an oversupply of candidates: positions are shrinking like a funnel, while job seekers come in like a tide.
Under severe supply-demand imbalance, project parties have become unprecedentedly picky when hiring.
"Since last year, many clients have raised their requirements when hiring. In addition to having a background in large internet companies, they also want recent experience in relatively well-known Web3 projects or exchanges."
James, the founder of the Web3 headhunting company Talentverse, said, "There will also be requirements in terms of work content. If it involves smart contracts, token economics, or on-chain interactions, relevant work experience is required."
Yet even if these hard requirements are met, it may not guarantee passing the interview.
"I have seen too many candidates with backgrounds from large companies who have strong technical skills but only have a superficial understanding of Web3," Yulia, a headhunter focused on overseas markets, shared a case. "A P8 from a large company came for an interview, and when asked 'how to design a DEX that resists MEV', he was stunned for a full 30 seconds."
Hard skills are just a ticket to entry; what recruiters value are also some seemingly more 'metaphysical' aspects.
"A positive attitude, enthusiasm for the industry, strong curiosity, quick learning ability, self-motivation, independent thinking ability, and resilience..." James listed seven or eight requirements in one breath, "These may seem abstract, but they form the underlying logic for selecting candidates when backgrounds are quite similar."
Overseas teams have even stricter requirements. Yulia revealed that her clients (mainly European and American project parties) not only require fluency in English but also a 'cultural recognition'. "They will discuss meme culture and crypto punk spirit during interviews; if you can't grasp these points, you basically have no chance."
Behind the decrease in recruitment demand is the large-scale decline of startups.
Antoniayly deeply understands this, saying, "Around 2021, from infrastructure to applications, various crypto companies like wallets, DeFi, and social platforms were continuously hiring. Now, basically only exchanges, large public chains, and major DeFi applications are still hiring; it seems that all the small and micro enterprises in the entire industry have disappeared."
In terms of recruitment trends, the strategies of exchanges have also changed. In addition to traditional technical and product positions, an increasing number of operational roles now require Web2 growth experience. Amidst the growth competition, candidates who can play Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and private domain traffic have begun to become the new favorites.
But the most surprising issue is age.
"This cycle is relatively more lenient regarding age restrictions compared to the previous cycle," James's observation has overturned many people's perceptions. In today's internet industry, where one must worry about being 'optimized' at 35, Web3 has opened its doors to some middle-aged individuals.
The reasons are very pragmatic; with the deepening integration with traditional finance, Web3 needs not just young people who can code, but also seasoned professionals who understand capital, have connections, and can handle regulations.
"Web3 is transitioning from a wild era to professionalization," James summarized, "In the past, courage was enough to strike gold; now what is needed is a combination of professional skills, industry knowledge, and resource integration."
Expectation misalignment
Is Web3 short of people?
"Lacking, yet not lacking." This answer reached a consensus among the respondents.
This seemingly contradictory phenomenon reveals the structural problems in the Web3 talent market: on one side, there are a large number of job seekers submitting resumes, while on the other side, exchanges and project parties still cannot find suitable candidates.
Headhunter Nancy is based in Singapore, with many clients being top exchanges. In her observation, operational positions belong to a typical 'false prosperity'.
"Every time we post an operational position, the resumes we receive can fill up the inbox," Nancy said with a wry smile, "but those who truly meet the requirements may be less than 1%."
Where is the problem?
"Many people think that operations is just about posting on Twitter and organizing events," Nancy explained. "But exchanges need vertical domain experts. For instance, in contract operations, you need to understand contract mechanisms, risk control logic, and market maker thinking; for community operations, you need to understand DAO governance, token economics, and incentive mechanism design."
A real case is that a certain exchange was hiring for a 'DeFi Product Operation' position, requiring candidates to independently design liquidity mining schemes. However, among the hundreds of resumes received, fewer than 10 truly understood impermanent loss.
"Most people are using Web2 thinking to apply for Web3 positions," Nancy summarized, "They see the word operation and apply without caring whether it's content operation, user operation, or product operation. This scattergun strategy doesn't work in Web3."
The most subtle mismatch in crypto job seeking occurs between expectations and market reality.
Talentverse headhunter Evan has several Web3 project clients on hand. Their founding teams come from top investment banks or exchanges, and the teams are elite, with high demands for talent, making it rare for candidates to truly meet the criteria.
"I searched the market for three months and interviewed over 50 people, but not one was a perfect fit," Evan said helplessly. "In the end, I could only suggest the client adjust their expectations, either by training a product manager to learn Web3 or by finding a Web3 product manager to supplement the vertical domain knowledge."
This is the 'mismatch between ideals and reality', which is very common in Web3 startups. They hope to use startup salaries to attract composite talents from large companies and Web3, but the result is often a fruitless endeavor.
"Many founders live in their own world," a senior recruiter complained. "They believe their project is the next Uniswap, so excellent talents should join for their dreams, even at a salary cut. But the reality is that talented individuals have too many options."
For job seekers, they also have to experience a 'salary expectation gap'. In the eyes of outsiders, Web3 seems like a land of gold, but salaries may not be as high as imagined.
Especially for those who previously worked in traditional finance PE/VC or large internet companies, joining a large Web3 company may actually result in a pay cut. Their reasons for entering Web3 are simple: Web2 has peaked, the crypto industry is freer, and they also seek an opportunity for financial freedom through investment.
"Survivorship bias has led to too many myths of overnight wealth in the crypto circle, making many people flock to it, thinking I can do it too," a HR person complained.
Workplace unspoken rules
In the Web3 job market, there is an unwritten 'contempt chain': technology > product > others.
The most direct manifestation of this contempt chain is the salary gap.
"For the same P7 level, the package for technical positions can be 2-3 times that of operational positions," Nancy bluntly stated, "and technical positions also have token incentives, while operational positions basically do not."
What’s more brutal is that the replaceability of non-technical positions is extremely high. "We have seen too many cases where non-technical roles are eliminated in the short term if they do not meet the requirements or achieve high output," Evan said, "but in technical roles, there is a career ladder available for improvement."
Why is this happening?
"Web3 is essentially still a technology-driven industry," Evan stated. "No matter how well your market is doing, if your product is garbage, users will not buy it. But if the product is innovative, even without much promotion, there will be people who come to use it voluntarily."
This 'product-first' logic is particularly evident in DeFi: Uniswap has almost no marketing team but has taken the lead in DEX due to its revolutionary AMM mechanism.
According to statistics from web3.career, among non-technical positions, product managers have the highest salaries, followed by legal, finance, HR, design, sales, project managers, marketing, social media operations, and community managers...
Of course, there are exceptions.
"If you are the kind of BD who can bring real business, your status is not inferior to that of technical roles," Nancy added. "For example, a BD who can successfully list a token on a major exchange can easily earn over a million a year. But such people may not exceed 50 in the entire industry."
However, for newcomers, the crypto industry is not friendly.
"Only screening, not training; training a novice is too costly and requires patience," a project founder said decisively.
If industry knowledge is the explicit threshold for Web3, then 'circle recognition' is the implicit threshold.
"Web3 is an industry that relies heavily on trust." James's statement reveals the essence of the problem. In this industry filled with rug pulls and scams, personal recommendations often carry more weight than resumes.
One unspoken rule in the crypto industry is that many positions are never publicly advertised.
"A considerable portion of the exchanges I've interacted with fill positions through internal referrals," Nancy revealed. "Public recruitment takes too much time and it's hard to judge whether candidates truly understand the industry. But if it's recommended by a core contributor, it's generally reliable."
Thus, an interesting phenomenon often occurs in the industry: an employee from a certain exchange or project party publicly criticizes a competitor, only to jump to the competitor shortly after; a well-known figure in the industry transitions to a senior executive position at an exchange or institution, and their subordinates gradually become their former colleagues. In their view, the old buddies are still more trustworthy and easier to work with.
This 'circle culture' is also evident in overseas projects. A recruitment requirement from an overseas Layer2 project states that candidates must have participated in ETHDenver or Devcon.
But the circle culture has also brought negative effects. "The same people come and go, recommending each other and supporting each other. Newcomers want to get in, but the threshold is too high," Nancy said.
Finding certainty in uncertainty
Seeing so many people flock to Web3, do you feel the urge to join?
Don't panic, let's first look at a failed case.
Evan once encountered a candidate who graduated from a top 985 university and had worked as a technical leader in a large internet company.
In pursuit of more possibilities, he turned to join a Web3 startup team. But a year later, the project failed to deliver results, coupled with unsuccessful financing, leading to the company's dissolution and his forced unemployment. After that, he attempted to interview with other project parties but found that due to the sudden drop in heat in the sector he originally worked in, his experience could not be transferred, resulting in long-term job hunting without success, and he could only rely on gig work to make ends meet.
"Most people only see the stories of survivors, but unsatisfactory cases like the one above happen almost every day," Evan pointed out.
"In a bull market, companies are desperate for talent, while in a bear market, they face emptiness. A project may fail in a few months, and a hot sector in the last cycle may be completely cold in the next cycle."
Failed financing, plummeting coin prices, compliance restrictions, hacker attacks... Any one of these factors could lead to a project's exit.
"Web3 is a high-risk industry; if you want stability, you don't have to come here," James summarized very calmly.
However, even so, there are still people willing to take the risk. Is there a relatively stable path?
Nancy offered advice: "If your background is good, you can first train at a large internet company, but don't exceed three years before transitioning to an exchange. They are at the top of the Web3 ecosystem and relatively stable."
Of course, there are also those who come with passion and ideals, willing to join a startup team to do things that can change the world. A candidate mentioned by Yulia originally worked as an algorithm engineer at a medium-sized financial company, had no native Web3 experience, but succeeded in joining a star project due to self-motivation and long-term technical accumulation on GitHub. Years later, they grew to become the head of the department.
"The Web3 talent market is as volatile as cryptocurrency," James said, "But in the long run, truly valuable talent will, like Bitcoin, eventually be recognized by the market."
For those still observing, Yulia's advice is more practical: "Don't get caught up in whether to go all in. Instead, take the first step. Learn a smart contract language, participate in a DAO, experience DeFi... Only by truly getting involved can you determine if this is your opportunity."
When we asked the interviewees about potential future talent competition hotspots, the answers were astonishingly uniform:
The combination of AI and Web3, the integration of traditional finance and on-chain assets, and the infrastructure aimed at trading.
This may be the direction for the next influx of talent, as well as the next hot land for Web3.
