How to Get Into Web3: A Complete 2023 Guide

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The new era of the World Wide Web, known as web3, is being forged from the foundation of blockchain technology and the concept of a decentralized, inclusive, and more democratic internet.

Not surprisingly, web3 has come to the forefront of the global technology industry in the past several years, in no small part due to the exponential growth of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Consequently, large tech firms and web3 startups have begun developing web3 as a crucial part of their product and service offerings, with a glut of career opportunities in web3. 

The demand is primarily driven by the need for tech firms to stay relevant and at the forefront of innovation – based on the principles of the emergent web3 space.

Have you always wondered how to get into web3 ? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

While a traditional development background is helpful, the truth is that you don't need to be a full-fledged web3 developer or a smart contract guru – plenty of skills translate well into web3.

We’ll show you how to get into web3 and gain a better understanding of what opportunities await you in this exciting and innovative industry.

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Becoming A Part Of Web3

A massive paradigm shift is occurring as industries begin to implement blockchain technology and harness the power of smart contracts across all aspects of their businesses.

The increasing adoption of web3 has given various innovation opportunities across industries.

We've seen this occur as new products, business systems, income streams, and novel collaboration methods emerge out of web3 powered by blockchain and smart contract technologies.

It's only logical to conclude that there is a growing demand for people who are willing to pursue a career in one or more aspects of web3.

This guide will give you a solid foundation with everything you need to know about how to get into web3, regardless of your background.

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MetaMask: The Must-Have Key to Web3

The fastest way how to get into web3 is by simply downloading MetaMask. MetaMask is by far the most well-known crypto wallet app currently available.

MetaMask also acts as a key to access many existing dapps on web3, facilitating easy communication between web apps and blockchains and enabling authentication and interaction with the blockchain.

MetaMask enables individuals to access decentralized web protocols and perform the following smart contract functions as a mobile application and/or a browser extension:

• Single sign-on (SSO) for various web3 frontends
• Swap cryptocurrencies
• Mint NFTs
• Enable payments
• Store crypto assets
• Participate in crypto governance
• Enable decentralized finance (DeFi) functions, such as staking cryptocurrencies for yield

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Top Web3 Resources to Follow on the Internet

Here is a list of free learning resources to help you get into web3 development, learn how to code and program smart contracts, and open up doors to future possibilities in the space.

And since most popular smart contracts, web3 activity, developer mindshare, and existing production dapps are built on Ethereum, these resources are oriented towards that smart contract platform.

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7 Web3 Twitter Accounts To Follow

• Metacrafters (@metacraftersio): We are a multiplayer game that will teach you to build in Web3 and earn while learning. To our tens of thousands of followers, we tweet about the newest developments in Web3, the hottest news, and of course, updates to our learning platform that serves as a bridge between Web2 and Web3 development.
• Gage Bachik (@GageBachik): Gage is a seasoned Solana professional and Rust developer who recently joined the Metacrafters team. He is frequently quoting and retweeting interesting news or shares his own projects.
• Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin): Vitalik is one of the founders of Ethereum and one of a few people who are seen as highly-influential thought leaders in web3 development. His timeline is filled with insightful tweets about Ethereum and his vision for web3 and his explanations of underlying technologies and core concepts.
• Gavin Wood (@gavofyork): Gavin is an Ethereum co-founder involved in a lot of interesting stuff, such as Polkadot. Gavin explains technical concepts such as smart contract programming, Ethereum development, blockchain interoperability, and web3 development.
• Tim Beiko (@TimBeiko): Tim is one of the core Ethereum development leads heavily involved in the Ethereum blockchain shift to a new consensus mechanism (from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake), known as "The Merge." Anyone interested in pursuing a career as a web3 developer, as well as learn more about the environmental concerns behind blockchain tech, will pick up valuable insights from Tim.
• Evan Van Ness (@evan_van_ness): Evan is the founder of the “Week in Ethereum News” newsletter and website which is a curated list of all the most important news, updates, proposals, and developer content that is relevant to builders and users in the Ethereum ecosystem.
• Patrick Collins (@PatrickAlphaC): Patrick is involved with Chainlink Labs as a Blockchain Engineer. His feed contains tons of fantastic free educational content for every web3 developer, whether they've just started learning blockchain development or have extensive experience in developing smart contracts and building successful apps. This includes free courses on web3 development subjects, like the Solidity programming language, smart contracts, distributed systems, decentralized finance (DeFi), and topics that a web3 developer deeply interested in the space needs to know.

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5 Web3 YouTube Channels to Watch

• Metacrafters: We started our channel just a few months ago but were glad to see interest in the content that we are posting. On our channel, you will find shorts explaining various Web3 technologies, and soon we will grow it with various detailed learning roadmaps and tips on how to make a successful switch to Web3 development!
• Dapp University: Interested in learning web3 and blockchain development from scratch and start building smart contracts in a matter of hours? Dapp University is one of the best YouTube channels to learn how to make a career switch into web3. Dapp University offers a comprehensive smart contract course, videos on how to set up a local development environment and start a web3 development ready stack, and free lessons on Ethereum blockchain development using the Solidity programming language and creaeting an Ethereum development stack.
• Nader Dabit: Nader Dabit is a leading web3 thought leader whose YouTube channel is an excellent resource featuring in-depth interviews, highly-detailed tutorials, and live smart contract coding demos. Nader Dabit also offers insightful discussions about the complex problems web3 attempts to solve – a few examples of which include distributed systems, cryptography, social and political science, economics, finance, and game theory, among others. Nader also offers fair criticism on web3, such as the endless talk about price speculation in the space, the outright scam projects that discredit the industry in general.
• freeCodeCamp: freeCodeCamp is followed by over 6 million developers following their tutorials on YouTube, such as setting up a development environment, and tips on how to make a web3 project successful. Recently, freeCodeCamp created a full course on web3, Solidity, and blockchain development, which will have you mastering the core concepts and technologies of web3 in just over a month.
• Moralis: Moralis is a software platform that enables web3 developers to build high-performance cross-chain dapps compatible across the primary web3 blockchain protocols. They also run a YouTube channel sharing interesting DeFi videos, tips and tricks on web3 development, and tutorials on web3 development on Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cardano, among others.
• Clever Programmer: Clever Programmer offers excellent educational videos on web3 programming languages, best practices, tips and tricks to become a web3 developer, and live coding tutorials on the channel. There is also a wealth of professional development videos for traditional web developers looking to break into web3.

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5 Indispensable Online Web3 Resources to Access

• Metacrafters: You may think that we are biased by putting ourselves right at the top, but we strongly believe that we are the BEST place to learn Rust and Web3 development. Metacrafters will allow you to earn while you learn, and if you complete our courses you will also receive proof of learn NFT. Some of the best minds in the industry recorded comprehensive video courses that will teach you everything you need to know to get your first job in Web3 or build projects of your own. We also have a very lively (and big) Discord community, where the students and teachers will be glad to help you along the way!
• Alchemy: Alchemy is a powerful leading blockchain development and infrastructure platform featuring a powerful and important combination of web3 development tools. Their site contains a host of useful web3 tutorials, including a masterful deep dive on smart contracts, blockchain development, and a base of active community participants from whom you can learn. Moreover, the Alchemy platform allows developers to skip the creation of a local Ethereum environment, allowing them to rapidly build apps on their blockchain of choice.
• Buildspace: If you're a dev curious about how to get into web3 but unsure where to begin, Buildspace is a great place to start. Buildspace hosts free step-by-step instructional videos and courses on web3 development to help you starting building an interesting project right now.
• CoinGecko: CoinGecko is a website that aggregates the price performance of major cryptocurrencies ranked by market capitalization across the space using real-time data feeds. You will find price information, price fluctuations based on time, and any other pertinent information about other projects operating in the web3 space
• Web3 University: Web3 University is a blockchain development educational platform often described as a one-stop shop for developers on how to get into web3, how to write smart contracts, mint NFTs, how to learn Solidity, how to use tools like Remix IDE (which allows you to execute smart contracts directly from your browser), and how to build fully operational dapps from scratch.
• The Complete Guide to Ethereum Development: Web3 thought leader Nader Dabit published an entire guide on Ethereum Development that will show you how to build full stack apps, work with the Solidity programming language and essentials like React, Ethers.js, and how the Ethereum blockchain works. Must-read material for every web3 developer.

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8 Ways To Get Into Web3

The crypto and web3 space are yet in its embryonic stages – but web3 professionals rank among the most highly recruited in the job market.

A wide array of talents are in high demand in web3, regardless of your technical background. Professionals with existing skills carried over from traditional web development are among the most highly sought after in the market, as well as non-tech professionals working in a variety of roles.

Here are 8 potential ways you can pursue a career in web3.

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Web3 Developer

This is where the most highly sought-after and highest-paid opportunities will be found on web3.

Web3 is an inherently tech-driven sector, which means roles in web2 development are transferable to web3. Many go on to become web3 Rust and Solidity developers in a relatively short amount of time. If you have a knack for Rust and a portfolio to show, this might be the perfect career for you.

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Designers and Marketers

Web3 has an ongoing need for design and marketing specialists who can explain and conceptualize its processes to the masses. Both designers and marketers are of paramount importance in helping improve UI/UX, craft the perfect messaging, and tell an amazing story about their brand and its origin story.

This involves creating content such as articles, a blog post series, social media threads, captions, Instagram or TikTok posts, promotional materials, and everything in between.

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Social Media Managers

Every project needs good promotion – and social media is at the forefront of winning that battle. Social media managers are therefore in high demand in web3, with projects needing professionals who can run their social media, consolidate it's messaging across platforms, and drum up hype and provide relevant information to their stakeholders.

Deep knowledge of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, as well as organizing promotional events to keep people interested, is among the top skills you need to find job opportunities in web3.

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Community Manager

Community is the backbone of web3, and communities of like-minded people collaborate at their best when they're happy. That's where a Community Manager comes in.

Contrary to most perceptions, community management isn't merely responding to messages on a Discord server or social media platform. It's also about keeping the community engaged and running events or campaigns to help them not lose excitement over the project.

This could mean hosting Twitter spaces to debunk FUD, help a fellow web3 professional out, and be the project's representative – a massive responsibility that would lead to high demand in this space soon.

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Project Manager

Project managers will always be in demand for as long as projects have to run.

Therefore, diligent professionals with an eye for detail are highly-sought after in web3. Web3 project managers act as the point person between the web3 devs and the clients, making sure that the developers are aligned with the project's scope and client expectations.

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Sales Development Representative

Web3 projects also need sales professionals to snag big clients, draw attention to partnerships, and collaborate with other companies in the space. They enable teams to connect with projects to collaborate with and build specific protocols geared towards a particular set of users or institutions.

Therefore, sales and marketing representatives with a good hand on social media and a gift for gab are always in high demand.

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Finance Manager

A huge amount of money changes hands in web3 day after day. So if you have a thing for maths and a passion for working in the web3 sector, a career in decentralized finance (DeFi) or in running the financial affairs of a project might just be right up your alley.

If you have a background in economics, banking, or financial markets, you might just be in one of the high-demand professions in web3. This will enable you to define financial frameworks and predict technology trends of the future of finance.

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Web3 Recruiter

Job opportunities in crypto surged 395% from 2020 to 2021. With such hunger for talents in the space, web3 companies need recruitment professionals. Finding the cream of the crop in web3 is exceedingly hard as the technology is still evolving. Therefore, recruiters who know how to find talent in web3 will also be in demand. If you have recruitment or human resources skills, you can be working in web3 for top dollar.

Key Takeaways

There is an abundance of career opportunities in web3 – and immersing yourself in educational materials can prove to be a worthwhile, thrilling, and lucrative exercise.

As more and more industries embrace blockchain and web3 technology, more exciting opportunities will emerge for adventurous professionals willing to roll the dice and explore uncharted waters in web3.

Your future starts now if you're willing to take the first step into web3.

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