Getting a cryptography job can be the most difficult it has been. The emergence of AI has attracted once the risk capital funds abound, and with an industry in maturation, cryptographic companies are now more selective than ever.
A recent Coinbase summer internship program had space just for 0.3% Of the applicants, according to the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, which shows the level of interest compared to the available space.
Meanwhile, the founder of Cryptojobslist, Raman Shalupau, and researcher Stefi Kiemeney told Cointelegraph that they often still see work publications with more than 200 applicants who compete for a single position.
But how does one overcome the competition? What are the majority of cryptographic employment applicants?
Cointelegraph spoke with some industry actors to discover the most common mistakes that job applicants are committing that job seekers, and how to avoid them. This is what they said.
They have not rolled the sleeves’ and built something in the chain
In statements to Cointegraph, the search test CEO, Kevin Gibson, said there are many “cryptocurrency enthusiasts”, but few of them are really building.
“Perhaps they have bought and sold some chips, they collected one or two NFT and read some articles or moved through X -wires or LinkedIn publications. But it is generally where it stops,” he said.
“The sleeves have not really been placed and technology has become practices in a way that is really useful to work in a protocol or cryptography company.”
Gibson’s comments resonate similar Observations Made about a month ago by the founder of Cryptorecruit, Neil Dundon, on LinkedIn.
“If your curriculum says web3, but your wallet says 0x000. I have questions,” said Dundon, added:
“If you don’t live in space, why would a founder trust you to build it?
While demonstrating the chain activity is a step in the right direction, Gibson said that the clearest test of real cryptographic work is an active Github account:
“If your github can point out and show that you have really delivered in different projects, it contributed with code or collaborated with others, that is huge. “
For those who do not strive to be magicians in the chain, Gibson said, to get content, contribute to a decentralized autonomous organization or show some other form of community participation is essential.
There are still opportunities in technology crypto roles, such as finance, marketing and operations, but Shalupau and Kiemeney indicated that oxide developers, smart contract engineers and cryptography experts with zero knowledge zero knowledge are among the roles of difficult demand skills.
They have built something, but they cannot explain it
It can be a stereotype that experts in technology are often poor communicators, but recruiters said that many talented builders often stumble when they explain their work during the interview, which underlines the projects to which they have contributed and weakens their labor perspectives.
“Companies want people who can build and explain what they are building in simple language,” said Shalupau and Kiemeney of cryptojobslist.
Gibson said he conducted interviews where some developers did not answer basic questions:
“I will often ask questions such as ‘What is the last thing you did in the chain?’ Or ‘How do you keep your wallet safe?’ And you would be surprised how many people are harmed by the basics. “
Use of generic curriculum generated by AI
Cryptographic companies use the application process to learn more about possible rentals, and want to see genuine and human -made applications, not generated by AI.
“Do not use AI during your application process: it is easier to detect from what you think and will be disqualified instantly,” Shaupau and Kiemeney said.
They also advised applicants not to “shoot their curriculum” in the interview, encouraging them to concentrate on how they have used the company’s technological battery, or at least demonstrate a clear understanding of it.
“Do your homework. Learn the project before requesting.”
They are focused on the wrong cryptographic sectors
Many applicants also focus on sectors that were hot in 2021, which are not close to their best moment today.
According to Shacupau and Kiemeney, Stablecoin, decentralized financial infrastructure and real -world asset tokenization companies are “constantly hiring” at this time, while exaggerations on the non -fungible token market places (NFT) and Earn game games have “burned.”
The couple referred to “dead” land sales and that while companies are still building virtual worlds, “the speculative business model of land acceleration is done.”
Earlier this week, the Metaverse leader Sandbox platform announced that it was dismissing the staff, while its two founders made the transition to strategic roles.
But not everything has been to blame for cryptographic employment applicants, they said.
FTX damaged Crypto’s reputation when he took off
Unfortunately, Crypto suffered his moment of Lehman Brothers with the catastrophic collapse of FTX in November 2022, just as Openai transformed the space of AI by making large language models conversational and widely accessible, marking the beginning of an important change in work opportunities from cryptography to AI.
Since then, IA has removed important talents and capital of cryptography, Shaupau and Kiemeney said. “Developers and businessmen follow money and emotion, and at this time AI is absorbing both.”
The collection of cryptographic funds reached its maximum point at $ 29 billion in 2021, followed by $ 28.5 billion in 2022, but the figures have declined sharply since 2023, with combined funds in the last two and a half years that fail to exceed the total of 2022, according to the root data.
Meanwhile, cryptographic companies have raised funds in just 547 rounds in 2025, on the way to being the lowest total since 2020, indicating that risk capital companies are larger bets in fewer new companies.
Market of cryptographic jobs susceptible to macro changes
Cryptography hiring is also highly seasonal and influenced by the broader climate macro, Dragonfly’s talent manager, Zackary Shelly, saying In X earlier this month.
When examining the data of the cryptography portfolio of the risk capital company, more than 300 new cryptography jobs were published in January, an increase of 60% compared to the previous month. In February, however, publications fell 60% when cryptography prices fell in the middle of high conversations of US rates.
750 cryptographic roles were reduced in March, the greatest monthly fall in history, with business development, customer service and marketing stalls affected the most difficult science and data engineering roles, while data science and engineering roles were less affected.
“Even when the feeling changes, these markets have demand in all cycles, always competitive, Bull or Bear,” Shelly said about the heaviest technological roles.
Despite what the dragonfly data, Shalupau and Kiemeney of the Cryptojobslist suggest, said that while breaking into the industry it is more difficult than it used to be, cryptographic works are generally safer than before.
“We are seeing less job offers than Peak 2021, but quality is higher. Companies now hire sustainability in mind, not only exaggerated,” while “in the last bull race, there was a ‘hiring first, resolve the mentality of later,” they said, referring to blue chip companies.
“This time, the budgets are more tight, the equipment is thinner and the hiring is more intentional.”
Related: The best paid works in Crypto to see in 2025
However, companies in initial stages are “still torn” and lack a structured hiring process, Shalupau and Kiemeney said.
Look harder to find the right candidate
Dundon also advised cryptographic companies to seek the best talent more actively, instead of just publishing in the cryptographic work councils and waiting for the right candidate to appear.
“The best candidates do not complete the application forms. They are not displacing the work meetings. They are busy building. They find them. Because they are already doing the work that is worth noting,” the recruiter saying In a separate publication.
“If all its hiring strategy is ‘publish and pray’ … you will never see them.”
Magazine: Cryptography merchants ‘deceive themselves’ with price predictions: Peter Brandt
