Web3 Job Search Truth: Bull Market Is Here, But Jobs Are Gone

Crypto prices soar, job market freezes.

When Bitcoin breaks through $110,000 and Ethereum hits new all-time highs, the community cheers “Bull market is here”; but in the job market, it’s a different scene.

“10,000 people vying for 28 positions,” the media headline may be a bit exaggerated, but it also reflects the real current situation of Web3 job hunting. Project teams are laying off staff, positions are sharply decreasing, and resumes flood inboxes.

On social circles, Web3 headhunter Nancy can’t help but lament: “This year’s hiring requirements are getting higher and higher, not only requiring educational background and English proficiency but also vertical project experience.”

Behind the seemingly prosperity is a shrinking, picky, and brutal Web3 workplace. The bull market effect in the crypto market and industry “breaking out” have driven countless young people and Web2 switchers into the space, but they quickly realize: there aren’t as many positions as imagined, and salaries aren’t as high as expected.

Why “bull market hype, winter in the job market”?

When the salary myth and survivor bias lead newcomers into the industry, how many can truly stand firm in this seemingly lively but actually turbulent Web3 job arena?

Crypto prices soar, winter employment The Web3 recruitment market often serves as the most authentic weather vane of the industry.

Bitcoin surpasses $110,000, Ethereum hits new highs, and everywhere in the media are voices of “bull market coming,” but the truth in the employment market is quite the opposite.

Antoniayly, founder of abetterweb3, clearly perceives this contrast: “The job market has been deteriorating for a long time, the number of job seekers keeps increasing, but the number of open positions keeps decreasing.”

In the past, abetterweb3 mainly posted job openings; now it has become more of a “job information wall.” For example, from August 22 to 27, only 14 new job postings were added, while there were as many as 24 job-seeking posts.

Behind these numbers is a harsh reality: project teams are undergoing large-scale “downsizing”: even Lido, a staking protocol on Ethereum, cut 15% of its staff this year; the once-glamorous metaverse leader Sandbox laid off 50%.

The primary market remains sluggish, and many once-flourishing crypto VCs have either shut down or chosen to lie low. Without external VC funding, many projects relying on financing have quietly closed or shifted to AI tracks for survival.

The job market is “more monks than porridge”: positions are shrinking like a funnel, while job seekers flood in like a tide.

Under severe supply and demand imbalance, project teams are becoming more and more picky when hiring.

“Since last year, many clients have raised their requirements when hiring. Besides having a background in big internet companies, recent experience in well-known Web3 projects or exchanges is also required.”

James, founder of Web3 headhunter Talentverse, said, “There are also requirements for the work content. If it involves smart contracts, tokenomics, or on-chain interactions, relevant work experience is needed.”

However, even meeting these hard requirements doesn’t guarantee passing the interview.

“I’ve seen too many candidates from big tech backgrounds with strong technical skills, but their understanding of Web3 is superficial.” Yulia, a headhunter focusing on overseas markets, shared a case: “A P8 from a big company came for an interview. When asked ‘how to design an MEV-resistant DEX,’ he froze for 30 seconds.”

Hard skills are just the entry ticket; recruiters also value some seemingly “mystical” qualities.

“Positive attitude, industry enthusiasm, strong curiosity, quick learning ability, self-motivation, independent thinking, stress resistance…” James listed seven or eight requirements in one breath, “These may seem vague, but they are the underlying logic for screening candidates when backgrounds are similar.”

Overseas teams’ requirements are even more stringent. Yulia revealed that her clients (mainly European and American projects) not only require fluent English but also a “cultural affinity.” “They discuss meme culture, crypto punk spirit in interviews. If you don’t get these points, it’s basically game over.”

Behind the decreasing hiring demand is the large-scale decline of startups.

Antoniayly deeply feels this: “Around 2021, from infrastructure to applications, wallets, DeFi, social platforms, various crypto companies kept hiring. Now, only exchanges, public chains, and major DeFi applications are still recruiting. It seems the entire industry’s small and micro enterprises have vanished.”

In terms of recruitment trends, exchanges’ strategies have also changed. Besides traditional technical and product roles, more operational positions now require Web2 growth experience. Under the pressure of growth competition, candidates skilled in Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, or private domain traffic are becoming new favorites.

But the most surprising issue is age.

“This cycle is actually more lenient in age restrictions compared to the last cycle.” James’ observation overturns many people’s perceptions. In an industry where 35-year-olds worry about being “optimized” out, Web3 is opening its doors to some middle-aged people.

The reason is very pragmatic: as integration with traditional finance deepens, Web3 needs not only young coders but also experienced professionals who understand capital, have connections, and can handle regulations.

“Web3 is moving from a wild west era to professionalism.” James summarized, “In the past, as long as you had courage, you could strike it rich. Now, what’s needed is a combination of professional skills, industry knowledge, and resource integration.”

Expectations misaligned Does Web3 lack talent?

“Yes and no.” This consensus was shared among respondents.

This seemingly contradictory phenomenon precisely reveals the structural problem of the Web3 talent market: on one side, a large number of job seekers submit resumes; on the other, exchanges and project teams still can’t find suitable candidates.

Nancy, a headhunter based in Singapore, mainly serves top-tier exchanges. She observes that operational roles are a typical “false prosperity.”

“Every time I post an operational role, my inbox gets flooded with resumes.” Nancy said with a wry smile, “But less than 1% meet the requirements.”

Where is the problem?

“Many people think operations just mean tweeting and organizing events.” Nancy explained, “But exchanges need experts in specific fields. For example, for contract operations, you need to understand contract mechanisms, risk control logic, market maker thinking; for community operations, you need to understand DAO governance, tokenomics, incentive design.”

A real case is that an exchange was hiring a ‘DeFi product operator’ who could independently design liquidity mining schemes. Out of hundreds of resumes, fewer than 10 understood impermanent loss.

“Most people are applying for Web3 roles with Web2 thinking.” Nancy summarized, “They see ‘operations’ and just apply, regardless of whether it’s content, user, or product operations. This scattergun approach doesn’t work in Web3.”

The most subtle mismatch in crypto job hunting occurs between expectations and market reality.

Evan has several clients in the Web3 space. Their founding teams come from top investment banks or exchanges, highly elite, with high standards for talent. Very few candidates meet the criteria.

“I searched for three months, interviewed over 50 people, and not a single one fully qualified.” Evan said helplessly, “In the end, I had to advise clients to adjust expectations: either train a product manager to learn Web3 or find a Web3 product manager to fill vertical gaps.”

This is the “mismatch between ideals and reality,” common in Web3 startups. They hope to hire top-tier talent with startup salaries, but often end up empty-handed.

“Many founders live in their own world.” a senior headhunter complained, “They think their project is the next Uniswap, so talented people should lower their salary to chase the dream. But in reality, top talent has many options.”

For job seekers, they also experience “salary expectation gaps.” In the outside world, Web3 is full of gold, but salaries are not necessarily as high as imagined.

Especially for those previously in traditional finance PE/VC or big internet companies, joining a Web3 giant might even mean a pay cut. Their reason for entering Web3 is simple: Web2 has peaked, the crypto industry is more free, and they also hope for financial freedom through investments.

“Survivor bias, the crypto world is full of myths of overnight riches, which attracts many people thinking ‘I can do it too’,” one HR said.

Workplace unspoken rules In the Web3 workplace, there’s an unwritten “contempt chain”: tech > product > others.

This contempt chain is most vividly reflected in salary gaps.

“At the same P7 level, a technical role’s package might be 2-3 times that of an operations role.” Nancy said frankly, “And technical roles also have token incentives, while operations usually don’t.”

Even more brutal is that non-technical roles are highly replaceable. “We’ve seen too many cases where non-technical roles are eliminated if they don’t meet requirements or produce high output in the short term.” Evan said, “But technical roles have a career ladder for advancement.”

Why is this?

“Web3 is fundamentally a tech-driven industry.” Evan explained, “No matter how good your market is, if the product is garbage, users won’t buy. But if the product is innovative and excellent, even with little promotion, people will come.”

This “product is king” logic is especially evident in DeFi: Uniswap has almost no marketing team but, with its revolutionary AMM mechanism, has become the leading DEX.

According to web3.career statistics, among non-technical roles, product managers earn the highest salaries, followed by legal, finance, HR, design, sales, project managers, marketing, social media, and community managers…

Of course, there are exceptions.

“If you’re a BD who can bring real business, your status isn’t worse than technical roles.” Nancy added, “For example, a BD who can secure listings on a major exchange can easily earn over a million yuan annually. But such people are probably fewer than 50 in the entire industry.”

But for newcomers, the crypto industry isn’t friendly.

“Only screening, no training. Training a rookie costs too much, and I don’t have the patience,” said a project founder firmly.

If industry knowledge is the explicit threshold for Web3, then “circle recognition” is the implicit one.

“Web3 is an industry that heavily relies on trust.” James’ words reveal the essence of the problem. In an industry full of rug pulls and scams, “referrals from acquaintances” often carry more weight than resumes.

A hidden rule in crypto is: many roles are never openly recruited.

“Many exchanges I deal with fill positions through internal referrals.” Nancy revealed, “Open recruitment takes too much time, and it’s hard to judge if candidates truly understand the industry. But if recommended by core contributors, it’s usually reliable.”

Therefore, a common interesting phenomenon in the industry is: an employee of one exchange or project disses competitors, then shortly after jumps to a competitor; a well-known industry figure moves to a new exchange or institution as an executive, and their team gradually changes to former colleagues. They believe that old friends are more trustworthy and easier to work with.

This “circle culture” is also prominent in overseas projects. One overseas Layer2 project’s recruitment requirement states: must have participated in ETHDenver or Devcon.

But circle culture also brings negative effects. “It’s always the same people coming and going, recommending each other, supporting each other. Newcomers find it too hard to get in,” Nancy said.

In uncertainty, seek certainty Seeing so many people rushing into Web3, do you also feel the urge to join?

Don’t panic—first, look at a failed case.

Evan once encountered a candidate: graduated from a top 985 university, served as a tech lead at a major internet company.

Seeking more possibilities, he switched to a Web3 startup. But after a year, the project failed to deliver results, funding fell through, and the company disbanded. He was forced to become unemployed. Later, he tried interviewing other projects, but due to the declining popularity of his previous track, his experience couldn’t transfer, and he was long-term unemployed, only able to do odd jobs to survive.

“Most people only see survivor bias stories, but cases like the one above happen almost every day,” Evan pointed out.

“During a bull market, everyone is eager for talent; during a bear market, doors close. A project might fail in a few months, and the hot track last cycle might be completely cold in the next.”

Funding failures, sharp price drops, regulatory restrictions, hacking attacks… any factor can lead to a project’s demise.

“Web3 is a high-risk industry. If you want stability, you don’t need to come here,” James summarized calmly.

Yet, some are still willing to take risks. Is there a relatively safer path?

Nancy offered advice: “If your background is solid, you can first gain experience at a big internet company, but no more than three years. Then switch to an exchange. They are at the top of the Web3 ecosystem and relatively stable.”

Of course, some people join startups with passion and ideals, aiming to do something that can change the world. Yulia mentioned a candidate who was an algorithm engineer at a mid-sized financial firm, with no native Web3 experience, but through self-motivation and long-term GitHub projects, not only successfully joined a star project but also grew into a department head after a few years.

“Web3 talent market is like cryptocurrencies—full of volatility.” James said, “But in the long run, truly valuable talent, like Bitcoin, will always be recognized by the market.”

For those still watching, Yulia’s advice is more practical: “Don’t obsess over going all-in; just take the first step. Learn a smart contract language, participate in a DAO, experience DeFi… Only by truly participating can you judge whether this is your opportunity.”

When asked about future talent competition hotspots, respondents’ answers are surprisingly consistent:

The integration of AI and Web3, the fusion of traditional finance and on-chain assets, and infrastructure for trading.

Perhaps this is the next wave of talent influx and also Web3’s next hot land.