Goodbye résumé, hello Discord: How hiring happens in Web3

Sneha Mishra recently transitioned from Web2 to the all new world of Web3, where she is working on multiple projects and is an active community member.

Over the last few months, she has received multiple messages from founders who want to hire her. On email or LinkedIn we ask? On Discord (a voice, video and chat app), she replies.

Web3, the next version of the Internet, where services will run on blockchain, is not just disrupting how businesses will be built but also disrupting jobs and the future of hiring.

The hiring process barely takes a week compared to the months-long process in Web2 companies, and it is highly informal.

“Instead of multiple selection processes that go on for weeks, in Web3 it ranges from a couple of days to a week.” Mishra said.

Salaries are on a different scale too. While some firms pay in crypto coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, others pay through their own coins or fiat (currency).
 Though Mishra did not reveal how much she earns, she said that the salary for her position could easily range between $2,000-$7,000 (Rs 1.5 lakh-Rs 5.3 lakh) a month, depending on the skill and experience.

Many founders and techies corroborated Mishra's experience: $2,000 a month is the average pay of a rookie Web3 developer at the moment. It can go up to $7,000 for the experienced ones.

So, how do you get it? By sending a direct message to the team you want to work with or vice versa, or a referral, or show some proof of work and it’s done.

Web 3.0 was merely a buzzword until a few months back. A handful of companies like Polygon were working on this concept and it was yet to gain acceptance in the mainstream. A few months on, things have changed drastically.

Multiple projects have come up and more investments have been flowing into the country. For instance, the VC firm Antler India plans to deploy $100-150 million in more than 100 startups in India over the next three years. Reports peg that Web3 can help India contribute an additional $1.1 trillion in economic growth to its GDP in the next 11 years.

Tectonic shift
While this focus is bringing more people into the ecosystem, Web3 startups, dominated by the younger generation (Gen Zs), are also bringing in a cultural shift. As a result of this shift, hiring the right talent too is undergoing a tectonic shift. These hires mostly happen via Telegram, Twitter and Discord, where most of the Web3 communities are built.

Muskan Kalra, Lead Developer Relations, Polygon, says: “Hiring in Web3 is very informal. You see someone and like his/her projects, and if you want them to work with this team you simply approach that person.”

Resumes or education qualifications aren’t always a necessity, as companies look at Twitter, LinkedIn, and GitHub profiles. “We also check the GitCoin profile (a platform where you can get paid for working on open source software) sometimes. At times, you don’t even ask for the resume,” Kalra said.

“And for me,  if I see someone participating in a hackathon, and I've seen the project, I'll simply approach and ask if they want to  work with my team,” adds Kalra.

“Web3 founders are always in hiring mode, finding people whom they resonate with,” says Vikas Singh, who is building Bliv.Club and hiring via Twitter and other channels and also through WhatsApp referrals. “I put up a WhatsApp status, and people start reaching out with  referrals,” he explains.

“In Web3, the person needs to be motivated and self-driven so that he can learn the skills. So, before onboarding one, we need to see if he or she has done some work in that space, and that is a sufficient signal to say that he will be a good hire,” says Singh.

He notes that he still does not have an HR in the startup, and that’s the case with most Web3 startups so far. The team sizes of these early-stage Web3 startups are currently quite small and between 2-20 at the most.

However money flowing in with a limited talent pool has its own challenges.

Challenges
These startups need very niche skill sets for product development, which becomes a hurdle. And, just like Web 2, retaining talent here is a major problem for these founders as well, especially when these startups are trying to build global products and need to match their global counterparts in pay.

Neha Kumari, founder of  a Web3 startup Carret, needed to hire a content writer. Through Telegram channels, she came across one potential candidate who was based in London but could not match her ask. Luckily, she came across another person, again on Telegram, based in India who turned out to be a good hire.

These founders emphasize that proof of work is very important before onboarding an individual.

Tosehndra Sharma, founder of NFTically, says that he tries to hire people who are keen about Web3 and have done good work in Web2. “We enable them and give them some exposure first. After the first month, these new joinees start focusing on the work.”

But, it's not as easy as it sounds. “Within a few months of learning these skills, they find jobs with 100-200% hikes and move to a new job,” says Sharma.

These are usually from international projects as geographies are no more a hurdle for hiring in Web3.

Says Srijan Agarwal, Head of Special Projects, DevFolio: “People right now have access to everyone in the ecosystem. You can literally reach out to a Web3 founder, and they will reply. These founders are extremely accessible. If you are good, you can work anywhere you want. The advantage is actually to the employee here and not the employer, because everyone is paying a good amount of money."

Agarwal says that hackathons helped her to hire other companies who hire good Web2 developers and train them in Web3.