Blockchain is a technology that enables the movement of information or digital assets from one individual to another. It is a distributed ledger technology that underlies cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and platforms like Ethereum. In this 5 min read you will get a quick overview of how to pursue a career in blockchain and succeed.
Transactional information in Blockchain is securely stored on thousands of different computers. This means that users can see every transaction that’s ever been made. It also means that information is not hidden on servers at the offices of companies like Facebook and Google, where it can be sold or stolen. It is actually near impossible to hack. In simple words, blockchain is a safe way to store and transfer huge amounts of important information.
Now, let’s talk about careers in the blockchain. Even though blockchain is making waves, the job sector is comparatively new and the career path is one that has not been tried before. Therefore, starting a career in this field might be as experimentative and the path to success as innovative as the technology itself.
For the longest time, a good college degree has been considered the gateway to getting a high paying job. In fact, students have been following the same path all along, get good grades in school to land up in the class of a good college, study an in-demand course, and finally pass out and get a high income earning job. This has although changed ever since.
We can see that in the technologically advanced times of today, there is a growing consensus that skills are more important than a candidate’s education.
Education Required To Build Careers In Blockchain
The field of education creates opportunities in a market in terms of jobs, growth, and related industries transformation. To establish a successful career in blockchain, a candidate should understand that he/she should improve his/her skills. Since blockchain is continuously evolving, it is very essential for candidates to stay up-to-date with development in the field.
So, if you want to start your career in the blockchain industry, then you must follow the steps mentioned below.
Understand The Fundamentals
Unlike any other technology of the time, blockchain comes with a unique value proposition. The understanding of this is very critical to the start of a career in Blockchain. Features such as decentralization, DApps, and Smart Contracts are the essence of blockchain and it is essential that anyone wanting to begin their career in this industry should be aware of the essence of it. In fact, learning a programming language can also help you land a part-time job until you improve your blockchain-related skills. Hence, a degree in Computer Science can prove to be very helpful here. Instead of joining a professional course or going for formal education, one can opt for online education programs that have gained a lot of prominence in the digital times of today.
Training In Cryptography
Assets are moving from the physical world to the digital world. As a result, cryptography is gaining much significance. The distributed ledger technology of blockchain plays a crucial role in asset management, as it is the technology that facilitates the protection of digital assets through the art of cryptography. Big organizations depend on cryptography to secure their assets, and any failure in the deployment of codes can have a devastating impact on the privacy of these organizations as well as the users. For a successful career on a blockchain, aspirants must go for a high-level cryptography course from reputed online sources such as Udacity, Coursera, etc.
Gain Knowledge Of Distributed Computing Theory And Its Use Cases
Distributed computing blockchain technology offers a solution like never before. However, the deployment of blockchain is plagued by excessive energy consumption and myriad other issues such as scalability. Aspiring blockchain students need to gain knowledge of distributed computing theories, understand these issues and arise at solutions for the successful implementation of blockchain across sectors and industries.
Be A Part Of The Blockchain Community
Today, there are several cryptocurrency projects in the market, as these projects offer rewards for completing tasks. For a budding student of the blockchain industry, it is crucial that he/she partakes in such projects as they function as on-the-job training mechanisms. To be able to participate in these projects, students would be required to reach out to the Blockchain startup and offer their services that help with the community outreach, be it leadership talks, event organization, or developing applications on the blockchain. By starting this way, as a Blockchain student, it will give you the leverage of working and networking with the right people in this industry.
Create Your Own Path
As jobs in blockchain are flourishing, the future holds even more potential for those working in this technological field. This is the right time for aspiring students to get involved in the community and create their own path to career success. For blockchain, it is not yet important to spend years in formal education. But the above-mentioned strategies should definitely help in charting your path.
As the future of blockchain is bright and playing an important role in everyday life and businesses and constantly evolving, careers in the blockchain are changing the professional world.
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Apart from the solutions blockchain offers, there are some job posts for people looking for pursuing careers in the blockchain:
Blockchain Developer
Blockchain Quality Engineer
Blockchain Legal Consultants
Blockchain Designer
Blockchain Project Manager
Blockchain Developer: One can imagine careers in Blockchain Developer as a full stack developer. If you believe that you have great skills for server-side programming with good analytical skills then Blockchain Developer role is for you. An individual needs to understand the end to end systems of Blockchain application. Setting up nodes, how to proceed with Blockchain transactions, how to submit these transactions, how to trigger Smart Contract functions. These individuals have the strongest career opportunities than others. Some of the required skills for the developers are Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, .NET, MVC, AJAX, SQL, C, C++, C#, JavaScript, Node.js, JQuery, SOAP, REST, FTP, HTML, XML, XSLT, XCOD, Neural-networks, Regression, Agile Scrum, and MYSQL.
Blockchain Quality Engineer: These individuals are responsible to see all the areas of quality in the development process; it might also include automation framework testing, manual testing. This profession mainly deals in QA, planning, and delivery of complex Blockchain projects and meeting QA standards.
Blockchain Legal Consultants: Individuals who have a vast understanding of the process from development to implementation. A consultant knows the structure and how to govern the process for success.
Blockchain Designer: An individual who is seeking a chance to make a career into a Blockchain Designer, needs to have the following skills – UI designs (web and mobile), manual sketches, PS, Illustrator. These professionals must have good communication skills and the ability to work with different teams to understand the requirement.
Blockchain Project Manager: When companies are looking into the blockchain solutions, Project Managers are the ones who are to be contacted first as they are responsible for the success and failure of the project. They are required to manage and facilitate these projects, and responsible for translating the need of the companies into technical terms that can be discussed with developers and other stakeholders of the project. They are also tasked with proper planning and execution of the blockchain project.
Blockchain Jobs: Supply and Demand
Demand for blockchain professionals has gone up a lot in recent years. Between November 2015 and April 2018, listings for blockchain jobs on Indeed have gone up by 63%. LinkedIn lists 2,527 search results for blockchain developer jobs in the USA alone.
Of those listed, 483 are based in New York, 360 are based in San Francisco and there are 142 vacant blockchain developer jobs in Los Angeles.
So, there’s a serious shortage of qualified blockchain professionals, especially those focused on the more technical side of the business.
Specialist tech recruiters like Toptal recorded a 700% increase in the number of blockchain jobs being advertised since January 2017. Another tech recruiter, Upwork, has reported that blockchain engineering is the fastest-growing skillset searched for by employers using its site. However, Computerworld estimates that there are only about 250 software developers in the United Kingdom who “truly get” blockchain technology. Similar shortages can be found throughout the world.
These statistics are shocking when you think about how much money the industry is worth. Fortunately, a shortage of skilled labor makes this the perfect time for newbies to start thinking about a career in crypto. It also means that blockchain experts can name their salaries.
Blockchain Career Roadmap
You need to have a background in Computer Science and Software Development. If you don’t, then your options are mentioned below:
Blockchain-Focused Degree: Some of the world’s top universities – including Berkeley, MIT, and Princeton – have begun offering degrees in blockchain development.
MOOC: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are affordable and easy to access. For example, BitDegree offers blockchain courses for beginners and more advanced students.
On-The-Job Training: If you are lucky enough to work in a field in which blockchain technology is being applied, then you might get retrained for free. 75% of blockchain jobs are being given to employees who already work for the hiring company.
Conclusion
Blockchain has already been caught everyone’s attention with its huge capabilities in terms of career and advancement. Top companies like IBM, Microsoft, Intel, JP Morgan are hiring blockchain professionals in huge numbers. You need to look at the big picture and gauge the stability of the careers in blockchain technology before taking a leap on impulse. So, research well and educate yourself more about the opportunities and challenges faced by this technology. This is the only way to assess its merit and take calculated risks.
Source: educba.com | hackernoon.com | bitdegree.org