Employment and Vacancies Opportunities in Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

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                                          Big Business Bullish on Crypto Careers           

Cryptocurrency prices may be recovering from a lengthy period of stagnation, but it doesn’t appear as though blockchain startups are watching the market. The number of new jobs listed within the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector has increased dramatically over the last three months, proving that while crypto values may be slow to recover, the blockchain employment industry is powering ahead.

While the early days of $100 (6h 41m) (6h 41m) BTC are over, with most instant crypto-millionaires already minted, the crypto job market explosion is only beginning. Cryptocurrency is just one use case presented by distributed ledger technology — there are thousands of different blockchain-focused startups, projects, and platforms that are currently working on DLT solutions.

One canny maxim from the gold prospecting era can be applied to today’s modern day “digital gold” crypto industry — in a gold rush, sell shovels. In a modern sense, a shovel can be considered any skill that can be applied to the development of blockchain. Everybody from small ICOs to tech industry juggernauts are snatching up talent from around the world, creating armies of DLT specialists in order to meet the staggering demand for technically adept blockchain developers.

                                        Enterprise Organizations Want Blockchain Experts

The rapidly evolving blockchain industry has captured the attention of enterprise-level organizations around the world, which is reflected in the positions that are currently available to individuals that possess blockchain development skills.

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IBM, Visa, and Microsoft are just some of the tech and finance giants that are now actively recruiting within the blockchain space, along with established crypto industry players such as Dash and Coinbase.

Job data analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies CEO Matt Siegelman refers to blockchain experience as a “disruptive skill,” emphasizing the extreme growth rate the blockchain job industry has experienced over recent years: “Five years ago, in 2012, we could find only a few vacancies demanding blockchain skills. By 2016 this number grew up to 1,838 messages, and 3,958 messages were made in the middle of 2017. It is 115% more than in 2016.”
The most common job posting in the blockchain industry is the generic position of “Blockchain Developer,” which can be interpreted to cover virtually any aspect of development within the blockchain sector. The burgeoning blockchain industry has definitely captured the attention of tech giants, who appear to be aware of the importance and impact of distributed ledger technology, but many are unsure of exactly what they’re looking for.

Microsoft’s Identity Services division, for example, is currently seeking a blockchain software engineer, but aren’t entirely sure what for. A job listing notes that the desired candidate will possess “ skills at investigating new products/technologies,” and should be excellent at “dealing with ambiguity.”

The position doesn’t have a specific goal — Microsoft aims to “explore new market and product opportunities that are emerging based on Blockchain technology,” and hopes to find a software engineer that can guide them through the complex and convoluted blockchain landscape.

The sheer number of large-scale organizations seeking blockchain experts is a strong indicator of the level of interest these companies are investing in blockchain technology.
Industry giants may not yet know exactly why they need blockchain experts, but that hasn’t stopped Ernst & Young, Intel, Mastercard, Siemens, Amazon, Ford, and American Express from headhunting the best blockchain experts the world has to offer.

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What Are Blockchain Employers Looking For?

While some organizations appear to be simply testing the blockchain waters, others exhibit a reasonably clear idea of what they want to do with blockchain talent, and who they are looking for. Visa, for example, is currently seeking developers with strong Ethereum and Solidity experience, as well as experience with the Ripple, R3, and Bitcoin blockchains.

Visa’s headhunting within the blockchain sector is linked to the recently


Solidity programming experience is one of the most sought-after skills in the blockchain job market
announced Visa B2B connect program, which is investigating the applications of blockchain technology in facilitating corporate cross-border B2B payments in a similar manner to Ripple.

Interestingly, the nascent nature of blockchain technology means that there are, as of yet, no widely-accepted qualifications that large-scale organizations can lean on when vetting new talent.

While qualifications in software engineering, cryptography, or computer science are a must, there are no benchmarks in place that standardize the blockchain qualification process.

This laissez-faire employment ecosystem means that the blockchain jobs market is currently very much a meritocracy, opening doors to anybody with hands-on experience with distributed ledger technology.