The bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency (or whatever we want to call it) industry is one of the most unique fields in existence. It has personally fascinated me since I first saw an article on The Verge in December 2013 that exclaimed “Bitcoin is so 2013: Dogecoin is the new cryptocurrency on the block.” Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of experimenting within the industry, whether mining bitcoin (and Dogecoin, such moon!), running a Bitcoin and Lightning node (thanks Casa), supplying liquidity within #DeFi, supporting platform growth at AirSwap, or jamming out with many of you during Crypto Happy Hour.

As the industry continues to mature and evolve, so have my ambitions to support it, and today, I have some exciting personal news.

Proof of Talent — A tech recruiting firm native to the blockchain industry

I’m ecstatic to publicly announce the launch of Proof of Talent, a new technical recruiting firm specialized for the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. A personal passion project months in the making, my aim with Proof of Talent is to create the go-to recruitment resource for rapidly growing companies in need of top blockchain talent, as well as candidates looking to advance their career in the blockchain industry.

Unique Positioning

For those of you that aren’t familiar with my background prior to crypto, I spent the first years of my career in the recruiting industry — first as a Senior Technical Recruiter at The Select Group, then as Account Executive at LinkedIn, up until my most recent position as Growth Lead at AirSwap. Seeing the ins and outs of the hiring process firsthand, I’m able to fully appreciate the challenges faced by both hiring clients and job candidates.

While this previous experience is important, what sets Proof of Talent apart is the industry-specific knowledge and reach. As anyone in the space knows, the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry is unique in a number of ways — from the preferred communication and social media platforms to the evolving landscape of tech infrastructure.

With nearly a decade of being ingrained in the industry, these nuances are something the Proof of Talent team is intimately familiar with — a necessary differentiator when it comes to connecting the right companies with the right candidates.

Just a small sample of what’s to come

Simply put, we have organic reach within the cryptocurrency community that is hard to beat. This ability to speak directly to industry participants is both highly beneficial for clients hiring for talent, as well as career seekers looking to make the leap.

Why Recruiting

From personal observation and countless conversations, hiring technical talent is one of the biggest challenges for existing blockchain companies today. The industry’s ambitions of overhauling the global financial system through transparency and fairness are difficult enough as it is, even more so when there is a shortage of talented developers and engineers to help execute on that vision.

The decision to focus exclusively on technical talent in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry is truly something we believe is out of necessity and backed up by statistics from numerous established leaders like LinkedIn, Hired and Indeed.

The Blockchain Talent Shortage

According to LinkedIn, “Blockchain Developer” is the top emerging job in the United States from their 2018 report, with 33x growth. With that growth, there are only 16,000 professionals in the US with any experience in the subject. Competing for talent in this industry is incredibly difficult, made even more so by rapid turnover and a median job tenure of only 1 year.

In Hired’s “2019 State of Software Engineers” report, the data also backed up LinkedIn’s, with Hired asserting Blockchain Engineers were the fastest growing profession.

Data from Hired’s marketplace reveals that global demand for blockchain engineers is through the roof, at a 517% increase year over year… Blockchain engineering is the most in-demand skill on the Hired marketplace, yet only 12% of survey respondents identified blockchain as the top technology they want to learn about.

The supply of blockchain engineering talent has simply not kept pace with the demand the industry requires, an issue many companies in the space are unfortunately familiar with, creating a shortage of specialized talent necessary to take organizations to the next level.

With demand for Blockchain Engineers outpacing supply, how can organizations compete for the best talent? By leveraging the expertise of a recruiting firm that focuses on uncovering the “passive” talent that isn’t applying on job boards, taking coding quizzes online or joining talent marketplaces.

Recruiting talent for the blockchain industry requires a combination of technical knowledge, industry expertise, competitiveness and passion. At Proof of Talent, we believe we possess those qualities in spades.

Working With Us

With this new venture, I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity to serve the blockchain and cryptocurrency community by connecting top companies with high quality talent.

If you are a company looking to hire blockchain talent, please reach out through our site or send an email to rob@proofoftalent.co.

If you are a candidate looking for a career opportunity in the blockchain industry, please submit your resume through our site or send an email to rob@proofoftalent.co.

Perhaps you’re not actively in the job market or a company hiring for talent, but you know someone who is. Proof of Talent is happy to offer a generous referral bonus for both successfully referred clients and candidates.

If you refer a job candidate or hiring company to our team, we’ll pay you $1,000 in BTC, ETH or USD (fiat?!) after a successful placement.

*Referral bonus is paid after client fee collection. Submit referrals here or via email*

We’d love to hear from you and we look forward to supporting the industry as we drive this future forward.

Story originally published on Proof of Talent.

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