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Success in a rapidly changing world is all about being able to adapt and learn faster than your peers. If you want a chance in the future of blockchain, you have to be willing to work harder and smarter in order to achieve your dreams. As with any career, nothing comes without effort or sacrifice. This applies doubly so for blockchain due to its relatively small talent pool and fierce competition. It makes it even more important for young professionals (and their managers) to take action today if they want to get ahead tomorrow.
We talked with several industry experts who shared their views on what can we do today to secure our place for tomorrow:
- Prioritize education
- Get involved locally
- Prepare for change
- Look outside the current industry
- Don’t be afraid to fail
- Be a lifelong learner
- Find a Mentor
- Stay positive and network.
Job preparation for young professionals in the blockchain space is no different from other sectors, says Aaron Wright, professor of law at Cardozo Law School and author of Blockchain Regulation: The Global Phenomenon on Regulation of Blockchain Technologies. He believes that education in necessary before any action should be taken. “You need to get yourself educated,” Professor Wright tells us. “If you go to conferences if you read blogs online if you do anything that gets your mind into this field.” In addition to general educational efforts, he recommends taking classes in cryptography and software development as well as studying computer science.
“It’s very important that people not get into blockchain thinking it’s like the internet in 1994,” Wright says of the idea that anyone with computer skills would be able to jump on the bandwagon and make immediate profits. “This is a different kind of thing, you need some different tools.”
Getting involved locally whenever possible has many benefits, continuing education being one of them. Paul Farrar is Co-founder & Director at Digital Capital Management, Managing Partner at Farrar & Co., and Venture Partner at Angel List. He believes there are lots of reasons to get involved locally, talking about how everyone can contribute their part. “Humanity needs more collaboration than competition,” Paul tells us adding that joining any local meetups related to blockchain and DLT is a great way to get started.
“It’s very much about whom you know,” he stressed when asked what else someone should do in order to have better chances in the industry. In addition to joining local meetups, Paul recommends attending any related event no matter how big or small. He also suggests building relationships with people in the industry through Twitter or LinkedIn. “These can turn into opportunities that can advance your career,” he adds finding it especially important for young professionals who are just starting out in this space.
Still on education but going in a slightly different direction, Christine Des Lauriers is an Advisor at Polymath Network helping entrepreneurs understands the power of tokenization and how they might benefit from them by sharing her experience in the process.
She believes that it’s crucial to understand everything there is about any given blockchain technology and its role in the industry you’re trying to get into. “You don’t want to be just a generalist,” Christine tells us when asked what young professionals should do in order to become an authority in their field of choice. It’s important not only to read all informative materials but also go beyond them and try making things on your own or playing around with technologies. After all, she says, we’ll never know how it works unless we try ourselves.
There may be times when we might need some help from our peers, Mentors who will support and guide us through difficult times until they’ve passed away. Well, at least that’s the idea behind the Mentor Coin project, a decentralized reward-based system designed to help young professionals have easier access to mentors in different fields.
In addition to being a blockchain-based platform for peer-to-peer learning, Mentor Coin also has a mentorship program that provides educational content and one-on-one support from industry experts. Anyone can join if they pay in Mentor Coins which may be exchanged for storage on the Ethereum blockchain offering trustless verifiable evidence of completed mentorship hours. And if someone is looking for a mentor but doesn’t really know where or how to start, Roger Haenni is CEO & Founder at Datum Network who believes young professionals should take initiative and make their own luck.
“Don’t wait to be asked, just start doing things,” Roger tells us adding that it’s crucial not to underestimate the power of connections. After all, you never know how one conversation may change your life so follow up with everyone you’ve ever met and don’t forget about LinkedIn where you can create a list of people whose expertise is in line with what you’re looking for. “You’ll find someone eventually who will help you move forward,” he concluded on the topic.
Conclusion:
My final advice would go like this: if young professionals want to succeed they should be prepared to work hard and stay focused, but most importantly – they should remember that nothing is impossible! Sooner or later we’ll make our dreams come true and be able to afford all those fancy things we’ve been dreaming about and working towards.
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