How did I get my first internship in web3 as a Developer Advocate and many such roles and how you can do it too?
A breakdown of the steps required to get these opportunities.🥳
Hey everyone👋
After a long break, I'm back with another blog, and this is my second writeathon after I won the first one for the blog overview-of-blockchain-environments. I thought of writing about the topic "Lessons learned from a failed interview?" but realized that writing about my journey in web3 will help folks to crack the web3 rabbit hole and land their first internship/job in this booming space.
Why Web3? 🤔
- Learn something new every single day.
- Communities are helpful
- Potential to earn more as an intern than a regular 9-5 if you've got the skillset required
- and the list goes on and on......
Web2 might help but it is not needed ✅
Before I landed my first internship in web3, I was well familiar with web2 and did enough problem-solving using different languages. I used to build normal websites and solve leetcode problems daily which helped me to become more consistent than I was before. Now here's the catch 👀. You might be thinking why are all of these even required? It is. Web3 is new but the code and languages are the same with a few new tech stacks and features but the ability to understand the code comes from practicing web2 only. But, you can still learn web3 without having prior web2 knowledge with the help of some awesome communities that you can join and start your web3 journey. (I'll add the links at the end of the blog so stay tuned!😇).
How did I start? 🚀
I started by joining different web3 communities and engaged with people who are also trying to explore, learn and make the best out of it. I first joined Buildspace and did some web3 projects from there and get a basic understanding of how this technology works. I used to ask a lot of questions on their discord server which helped me make connections with people who are learning the same thing or who are ahead of me. Now, this is important. In Web3, making connections with like-minded people is really important as this can lead to further opportunities where people can refer you to companies for your skills. So, communicating effectively and helping people in what you're good at is a plus. I used to help a lot of new folks on the server with their doubts which is really important for making good connections, and improving your communication skills.
When I used to do projects if I see an error or something is wrong, I immediately go to GitHub and correct the code and raise a PR (Pull Request). This is really important. Contributing to open source projects can be very rewarding in many aspects. It helps you to learn, teach, share, and build experience. So, never miss a chance of contributing when you know the solution.
Now coming back, after spending a couple of months learning and building projects, I was still having doubts while I was building my own project without any help. And here comes the OG Youtube. Youtube helped me to learn Solidity and rust which are really important languages to program Blockchains. (Btw don't freak out. I'll be adding links to all the important sites and resources at the end of this blog as I said earlier 😂). After I learned these languages, I was more confident than before and, I started understanding and writing good Web3 code even more. Later, I joined more communities who are working on a project or brainstorming ideas and I constantly tried to be part of the team and learn things that are important for staying updated in the community.
How did I get my first internship? 🤑
After spending a couple of months learning and understanding web3, joining communities, and building projects, I started to level up my Linkedin and Twitter game. I shared my learnings on both of these social sites and it helped me to grow my followers to a decent level. I started writing blogs about my learnings and sharing them with my connections which is really important. Learning in public can be very fruitful because it helps you to share your work with the rest of the world and it could even lead you to opportunities that you can't even imagine.
I was reached out on Linkedin for a role in technical writing for a Web3 startup. After working for a month, they asked me to join as a developer advocate intern. I was really happy that time and all my hard work paid off. The learning in public move was life-changing for me and I would request to everyone who is reading this article, please share your learnings in public.
Currently, I'm working as a Community Manager intern for an nft-based web3 startup and the work is super amazing. Every day I get to learn so many new things and meet new people which helps me to leverage my knowledge even more. How I got this role? Same. I got reached out. So, share your learnings. 😉
Important: Links and Resources 📚
Whitepapers
Before starting your journey in Web3, I would recommend you to atleast read these two whitepapers as it is very important for you to understand how it started.
Tutorials
- Solidity, Blockchain, and Smart Contract Course – Beginner to Expert Python Tutorial
- How to make NFT Art with On-Chain Metadata | FULL HARDHART / JS TUTORIAL! (w/ Polygon & Opensea)
- Create your own Blockchain ERC20 Token | Python, Brownie, Solidity
- Scaffold-ETH - Simple NFT Example
- UNISWAP-V2 CONTRACT WALK-THROUGH
As I mentioned earlier, I started with this and you can do it too. It is the best platform where you can invest your time in learning about crypto. You can learn while building cool stuff by following their projects and at the end, you get an nft too.
Some of their courses:
- Build a Web3 App with Solidity + Ethereum Smart Contracts
- Build an advanced Solana dApp
- Mint your own NFT collection and ship a Web3 app to show them off
- Build a Web3 app on Solana with React and Rust
- Build your own DAO with just Javascript
- Create your own NFT browser game
Learn to Code Blockchain DApps By Building Simple Games.
CryptoZombies is an interactive school that teaches you all things technical about blockchains. Learn to make smart contracts in Solidity or Libra by making your own crypto-collectibles game.
I myself did this course and the instructor was really good at explaining concepts. You will be able to recognize foundational concepts of blockchain and apply these program concepts to the blockchain.
The Complete Guide to Ethereum Development
Building Full Stack dApps with React, Ethers.js, and Hardhat. Tagged with solidity, Ethereum, dapps, react.
Everything you need to know about NFTs
Discover everything you need to know about Non-Fungible Tokens, also known as NFTs, to get you started with true digital ownership.
Videos from conferences, hackathons, masterclasses, and workshops from world-class Ethereum developers.
Developer resource that provides the essential concepts and recipes for building applications on Solana.
Learn web3 development and earn crypto rewards. Start learning the skills for the web3 programming economy and get paid while you learn.
Some of their courses:
- Taking payments with Solana
- Create a Web3 Forum using Polygon
- Build a full-stack Solidity + NextJS app
- Built NFT
See you next week 👋
I know it's a lot of resources together but it's worth it. All those who have read the blog post until here, you guys are awesome. I hope this article was worth your time and I'll be back with a new blog post next week in the #week2 challenge.