Are you asking yourself: What is an NFT job?
Perhaps you’ve been hearing more and more people in your circle of friends talk about how they’re looking to get into a highly lucrative NFT job and you’re not quite sure what that even is?
The world of cryptocurrency is a mystery to most people already, so it comes as no surprise that you’re wondering what NFT jobs even mean.
In this guide, you’ll not only learn what “NFT job” means but also how you can start a career in NFTs yourself.
Let’s dive right in!
Key Points (tl;dr)
- Non-fungible tokens (NFT), unlike fungible tokens such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, are represented by a unique entry on a blockchain. They are immutable and tamper-proof and be used to prove ownership of, sell, or trade the asset they represent.
- So what is an NFT job? In simple terms, an NFT job is any kind of job that has an active role within the NFT industry, including but not limited to roles within PFP projects, infrastructure builders, or specialized media outlets.
- NFT jobs exist in all shapes and sizes, but mostly follow the same categorization as regular positions: Full-time, part-time, freelance, contract work, and internships.
- Something that most NFT jobs have in common is the fact that they can be done remotely and therefore are compatible with “work-from-home” requirements.
- Anyone can start a career in NFTs and unless you are a developer, you won’t need any specific prior experience. However, it helps if you are familiar with online marketing and the basics of cryptocurrency.
- Web3 and NFT jobs are on the rise and if you’re interested in working in the NFT industry, we strongly advise you to actively look at some of the job openings available on the market.
- We specifically recommend that you check out the Natives Web3 jobs website that will launch in late summer 2022.
For a detailed answer to the question “What is an NFT job?”, PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
Like this content? Then share it!
Explained: What is an NFT Job?
www.tokenizedhq.com
Here’s the answer. Great article by @ChrisHeidorn right here: https://tokenizedhq.com/what-is-an-nft-job/
What the Hell Is an NFT?
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are sometimes referred to as financial securities that consist of digital data that is stored on a blockchain or a different type of ledger. Unlike “fungible” tokens, NFTs are uniquely identifiable and can represent ownership of something specific.
We’ll keep this brief, but chances are you don’t actually know what NFTs are.
If you do, then good for you, because then you can skip to the next section.
If you don’t, then stick around for a very quick explanation of what NFTs are and how they work.
You’re probably familiar with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and many more.
Cryptocurrencies use a public ledger, usually a blockchain, and cryptography to create networks that are secure, immutable, and maintain a record of how much everyone owns.
Every cryptocurrency has a native unit of account: Tokens.
Ethereum uses ETH, Solana uses SOL, and so on and so forth.
One of the key characteristics of these tokens is that they are “fungible”.
In other words, each token is essentially the same as the next and it doesn’t really matter which one you have.
Examples of other more or less “fungible” things are water, oil, natural gas, and others of similar nature.
The word NFT stands for “non-fungible token”, which means that NFTs are tokens that are distinctly unique and can neither be comingled nor copied.
An NFT is a singular entry on the blockchain that has unique characteristics and can be tracked throughout the network.
At any given time anyone can tell which wallet holds a specific NFT and how much they paid to acquire it.
We won’t go too much into detail on the implications of this technology, but rest assured, it opens up a whole new universe of possibilities.
We are talking about opportunities that will fundamentally disrupt the way our world works, how we do things, and more specifically, how we define ownership.
So, What Is an NFT Job?
An NFT job is a paid employment contract with a company that is active in the NFT industry. Typical employers are providers of technology infrastructure for NFTs or projects that have launched successful PFP NFT collections.
You’ve probably heard stories of people who have made millions buying and trading NFTs.
Maybe you even have a friend who was lucky enough to mint a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT when it launched in 2021.
Like with any gold rush, the early wave of people tend to be the speculators, trying to get lucky while something is still new.
Some people discover that they have special talents and actually do end up as so-called “NFT traders”.
So, what is an NFT job, and do NFT traders belong to that group?
Traders are essentially self-employed people who are just really good at flipping stuff.
They don’t really compare to regular NFT jobs.
But then what is an NFT job?
A real NFT job is when someone pursues a career in the NFT industry and actually builds infrastructure or products and services that use the existing infrastructure.
A career in NFTs isn’t fundamentally different from any other job in the crypto or blockchain industry, they’re just specialized in something related to NFTs.
Most of the startups or projects in the NFT space have similar needs as other companies in tech.
So if you’re a marketer, developer, PR specialist, project manager, or a customer success God, you’ll easily find a new home in NFTs as well.
Of course, there are some roles that are very specific to NFTs, such as Illustrators for NFT artwork or Discord Community Managers.
But overall, the meaning of NFT jobs is more linked to a specific subsection of the blockchain industry and not some strange new form of work.
How Do NFT Jobs Work?
NFT jobs mostly work the same as in any other industry, with the sole exception that most, if not all positions can be done remotely as so-called “work-from-home” jobs.
As we already explained in the previous section, NFT jobs are not a new form of work.
Sure, they are predominantly location-independent, so you can usually assume that working remotely is OK.
But other than the specific content, your daily work will not be considerably different from jobs in other industries.
You will mostly find the same types of job contracts that you’re already used to:
- Full-Time jobs
- Part-Time jobs
- Contract work
- Freelancing
- Internships
One thing that is slightly different from a job in a corporate environment is that many people are hired from within a project’s community.
So, for example, if you’re an avid fan of a particular NFT project and have been very active within their Discord server, then you may be able to apply as a Discord Moderator.
Moderators are often unpaid jobs initially, but it’s not unheard of that Discord Moderators eventually get hired as full-time Community Managers.
In other words, “moving up the ranks” is a real thing in the NFT space.
What Skills Do I Need for a Career in NFTs?
Companies in the NFT industry the similar requirements as other tech companies and also hire professionals for traditional job departments. Engineering represents a bit of an exception because many smart contract platforms require very specific programming language experience.
Companies in the NFT space need people from all types of professional backgrounds.
Obviously, in some areas, you’ll need highly specialized knowledge, but they are mostly limited to engineering roles because the technology is so new.
For developers, switching to a career in NFTs requires them to learn entirely new programming languages.
But for the vast majority of people the only transition they really need to make is to learn how the world of Web3 works and where it’s headed.
It also helps to be proficient in key online marketing concepts since almost everything takes place in the digital world.
To put you at ease, here are some typical departments that any NFT company will eventually need at some point:
- Marketing
- Sales & Business Development
- Finance & Accounting
- Product / Project Management
- Engineering
- Human Resources
- Customer Support
- Management
What if I Have No NFT Job Experience?
We know that many young people are particularly keen to start a career in NFTs.
Not only because they’re almost guaranteed to be able to work from home, but also because it’s an exciting new industry.
The problem that a lot of them face is that their prior job experience may not be sufficient to get hired.
But don’t worry, you do have options.
- Learn NFT-specific skills: If you’re an engineer but have no previous experience in blockchain development, make sure you learn the most relevant programming languages for smart contracts (e.g. Solidity) and try building your own small projects first.
- Pick an entry-level position: By definition, an entry-level position assumes that you have limited or no prior industry experience. You’ll mostly be learning on the job and over time you will develop experience in certain fields.
- Be an intern: If your primary strength is that you’re highly engaged with a particular project, then working yourself up the ladder may be the best approach. Start off by volunteering to work as a Discord moderator. If you prove yourself to be useful, you can discuss career opportunities with the team.
The key thing to remember is that everyone started somewhere and usually it was the bottom.
Just because you graduated from an Ivy League school does not mean that you get to take shortcuts.
Where Can I Find NFT Jobs?
Jobs in the NFT industry can be found on most of the large job platforms you already know. However, there are highly-specialized job boards that cater to the specific needs of the industry.
Although the Web3 and NFT spaces are still relatively small compared to the overall tech job market, the number of opportunities is constantly growing.
In fact, it’s a great time to start a career in NFTs simply because demand is outpacing supply by a wide margin.
This fact is particularly obvious in the engineering space, where the highest paid jobs have compensation packages close to half a million dollars per year.
But even in other areas, the demand for experienced professionals growing by the day.
There’s just way more work than there is strong talent.
That’s why we’ve partnered with Natives, a new Web3 job board that is specialized in helping companies find the best talents in Web3.
Natives hasn’t launched yet, but you can join their mailing list today and you’ll be notified as soon as they go live.
Conclusion
So, as you can see, NFT jobs are not fundamentally different from other jobs.
They simply represent a subset of the jobs in the blockchain and crypto industry.
However, one thing we have noticed is the fact that the culture of the NFT space is considerably more friendly than the traditional crypto space that is often dominated by slightly aggressive “crypto bros”.
Here at Tokenized, we want to help you learn as much as possible about the coming NFT revolution. We help you navigate this fascinating new world of non-fungible tokens and show you how you can integrate tokenization into your own business.
