from noob to new hire: how to get hired - a live workshop recap

this week, we didn't have our usual crypto intern's office hours. instead, we were lucky enough to have @bl0ckjames from @iptsai (and valuable crypto intern community member) give us a workshop on how to actually get hired.

here's a recap of what james ran through and all the best tips he gave us in his workshop.

the job hunt is basically a 4 level game

the whole workshop was structured around this idea.

getting hired isn’t one thing, it’s four parts that stack on top of each other:

1. you start with your cv
2. finding roles and getting in front of people
3. interviews
4. follow ups

most people treat these as separate things, but they stack. if one part is weak, it shows up later whether you realise it or not.

level 1: your cv still matters, just not how people think

a lot of cvs read like job descriptions. they list responsibilities, tools, platforms, and general involvement, but they don’t tell anyone what actually happened as a result of that work.

if you have 'social media manager' listed as your position then anyone can assume quite easily what you're in charge of doing, responsibility wise.

when someone reads “managed socials” or “worked on campaigns”, they have to fill in the blanks themselves, and most won’t bother. you need to remove that guesswork by showing outcomes, not just what you did.

that doesn’t mean you need insane metrics, it just means you need to be specific about your actual impact in that role

instead of saying you managed something, explain what improved, what you changed, or what you contributed to. even something as simple as improving consistency, testing new formats, or increasing engagement on key posts is more useful than a vague statement that could apply to anyone.

the easiest way to fix this is to go line by line through your cv and ask one question: what changed because i was there?

if the bullet point doesn’t answer that, rewrite it until it does.

keep it tight as well.

no one is reading a long cv in detail, so clarity matters more than volume, and your top section should be aligned with the role you’re applying for rather than acting as a generic summary.

this doesn’t guarantee anything, but it moves you out of the auto reject category.

level 2: get social

ah, i know, the dreaded networking word.

but if your entire approach is waiting for roles to be posted, you’re always reacting instead of positioning yourself earlier in the process.

a lot of hiring happens before anything becomes public, which means the people who get those roles aren’t necessarily better, they’re just already in the room.

just as a recent example, i got someone hired in my work before the job role even got made public.

so a more effective way to approach this is to decide where you want to work first, then figure out who is actually involved in that team. that’s usually the person you’d report to, or someone whose workload your role would directly affect.

once you’ve found them, reach out in a way that respects their time: a short message that explains who you are, what you do, and why you’re interested in their company is enough. you’re not trying to force a job, you’re only trying to start a conversation that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

james also mentioned speaking to people who are already connected to multiple companies, like fractional cmos or work for agencies. they often have visibility across several teams and are regularly involved in hiring or building out functions, which makes them a useful entry point if you’re looking for opportunities in a specific area.

and then there’s one method that people tend to ignore because it doesn’t feel like a “strategy”.

being active in conversations.

replying to posts on socials, sharing your take, challenging ideas when you disagree, all of that builds familiarity over time. you don’t notice it immediately, but it creates context around you, which makes future interactions warmer by default.

it's less about networking as an activity and more about trying to be present where the conversations are already happening and putting yourself in them.

level 3: clarity > confidence

a lot of people assume interviews are about sounding impressive adn the best version of yourself, but in practice, most candidates lose because they’re unclear.

they jump between points, skip over details, or assume the interviewer will connect things for them; which rarely happens.

having a structured way of answering helps, not because it’s a formula you have to follow perfectly, but because it forces you to explain things in a way that makes sense.

when you talk about something you’ve done, walk through what the situation was, what needed to happen, what you actually did, what the outcome was, and what you took from it.

the last part is usually what most people miss, but it’s actually often the most telling because it shows how you process your own work.

preparation is also more straightforward than people make it.

you should know the role you’re applying for, the company you’re speaking to, and the person interviewing you well enough that you’re not thinking about it for the first time in the call.

and when it comes to questions, avoid the generic ones and ask things that help you understand what the role actually looks like in practice, whether that’s how success is measured or what challenges are likely to come up early on.

level 4: follow ups are still underrated

after an interview, most people do nothing but sit around on their arse and wait for the company to get back to them.

that’s good and all, but it’s also a missed opportunity to reinforce the impression you’ve already made.

a short follow-up message does more than just tick a box. it shows you’re intentional, it reminds them of who you are, and it gives you a chance to connect your experience back to something specific you discussed.

it doesn’t need to be long or overly formal. thanking them for their time, referencing part of the conversation, and restating your interest in the role is enough to make it feel considered rather than generic.

if you don’t hear back, following up again after a week or two is reasonable, but beyond that, it’s better to move on and keep momentum elsewhere instead of waiting on one outcome from one company.

dont put all your eggs into one basket, and all that...

what to actually do with this

most people already know where they’re weak, they just avoid fixing it.

if your cv reads like tasks, rewrite it so it shows what actually changed because of you. if you can’t clearly explain your work, that’s exactly why interviews aren’t converting. if no one’s seen how you think, you’re relying on a pdf to do all the work.

sometimes it just takes a little extra effort to actually go from being another rejection to actually getting hired. it's really worth that extra bit of effort.

bonus

the team at @iptsai also offered mock interviews for the first 20 people. if you actually want to test yourself, this is worth doing but be quick as spots may have already ran out.

want to join more sessions like this?

we run crypto intern office hours every week. part q&a, part sessions like this where people actually break down what works without dressing it up.

if you want to join the next one or any future workshops: https://luma.com/thecryptointern