Getting a job in the Bitcoin Industry Megathread

[priestc]

This thread is for people who are looking to work for a blockchain company. I get the sense that most blockchain jobs are for those who can wrote software, but there may be other job skills that are in demand like Marketing, Sales, and Management. Personally, I'm software developer, so I will be pursuing job that are technical in nature. I will update this thread with my experiences, and I welcome others to do the same.

The blockchain industry is still very small, so it may take a bit of work to land a job. Every little bit of help goes a long way.

Here are the places I'e sent my resume to:

Coinbase - I applied to two or three positions on their careers page. I then re-applied a week or so later. I have yet to hear anything in response.

Blockchain.info - They replied to my application, and did a phone interview, but I have yet to hear anything from them since. The phone interview lasted abut 15 minutes and was with an HR person (no technical discussion occurred).

Gems - This is a company I found on stackoverflow.com/jobs by searching for "blockchain". This company has nothing to do with the CounterParty asset. The interview I had with these people went very badly. I tried my very hardest to not get mad at the person interviewing me, but he just kept pissing me off. He kept asking me the same questions over and over again. He asked me "How did you get into bitcoin". After I gave him my answer, he followed up with "But there has to be something in it for you", as if he didn't believe my answer. Just about every answer I gave to his questions, he followed up with a question that expresses his disbelief of my answer. At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked me if I had any questions for him. I just wanted the interview to be over so I just said "No questions". He tried to tell me what the company does, but it sounded like the typical vague startup spiel: something about putting medical records on the blockchain...

Circle - They have a careers page with a few dozen positions listed. I applied to about 5 or 6 of them that fit my skills. I have yet to hear a response from any of the applications. Its been about 2 weeks.

Fidelity - I found this job posting from when someone posted it in r/bitcoin. They are looking for blockchain experts to work on a blokchain project. I was contacted by a HR lady to do a phone interview. The interview lasted about 30 minutes, and I felt went pretty well. She asked me about my work experience and my personal projects, but there was very little in-depth technical discussion. I gave her the "elevator pitch" of my various projects, but thats about it. The same HR lady called me a week later to tell me over the phone that they are pursuing another candidate with more experience. Ho the hell are they supposed to determine how much experience I have if they never asked me a single technical question? It seems to me Fideltiy knows nothing about blockchains, and therefore have no way of knowing if someone else is a blockchain expert either. I would recommend anyone who actually knows about how bitcoin works to stay far away from Fidelity. If you're one of those 'fake it until you make it" types, by all means pursue a job with Fidelity, you'll probably fit right in.

There has been a few more blockchain interview experiences that I'd be willing to share, but thats all I can think of at this time... I'll keep this thread updated.

 

[priestc]

*update*

I got a response from blockchain.info. They told me simply they want to pursue other candidates. They made this determination after a single fluffy 10 minute HR interview. They did not ask me a single technical question. Apparently blockchain chooses their employees based on the prestige of their previous employers, because they sure don't choose them based on actual skill. I'd rather not work for a company that hires people that way, so it's a blessing in disguise. I recommend anyone who has put the work into learning about blockchains to avoid blockchain.info. If you're a recent grad or someone who only knows a little about blockchains, then you might want to give blokchain.info a shot, otherwise, stay away.

 

[jbreher]

This opinion is offered for free, so value it how you will.

While I don't work in the cryptocurrency industry, I do work in a highly technical field. I've been participant to many interviews - from both sides of the desk. I can't help but think that your essentially denigrating the experiences you have had so far -- here in this very public forum almost guaranteed to be visited by your potential employers -- is unlikely to ingratiate you to any others in the space.

- with the best of intent...

 

[priestc]

@jbreher I'm just relaying my experiences. If I have a bad experience, I'm going to describe the experience I had so that others can use the information in their job hunting. Anyways I don't think my post is "denigrating" at all. I actually think I'm being quite generous to some of these companies, considering how they have treated me. I hope other people would come forward with similar experiences so that I can benefit from them.

If a company were to give me a chance, I'll write a glowing review of the experience in this thread, and will encourage others to give that company a shot. But for the companies that wouldn't even give me a chance? Fuck them. Why should I extend my generosity to someone that can't do the same for me?

 

[jbreher]

Fair enough. Your thread, your job search, your decision.

Best of luck!