With all the hype around, web3 can be overwhelming if you’re looking to get started. Luckily if you are a decent web2 dev, you already have most of the skills needed to get into web3.
In this post, I'll give you an overview of the web3 space, reasons to transition, and a roadmap for how to do it. As a result, you can form your opinion and decide on whether you want to switch to web3.
What's web3?
Web3 is a trustless, permissionless, and decentralized internet that leverages blockchain technology. Its defining feature is ownership. The first iteration of the commercial internet - Web1 - was read-only. The second one - Web2 - allowed users to both read & write on centralized platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc). Finally, Web3 gives users full ownership over their content, data, and assets via blockchains. It empowers users to read-write-own.
Why as a web2 developer should I consider transitioning to web3?
Higher salary
Full-time web3 developer salaries tend to start in six-figure territory. While the demand for web3 engineers is constantly increasing, there is a shortage of blockchain devs on the market. It makes web3 engineers of all specializations have on average 30% higher salaries.
Web3 Frontend Developer salaries
Web3 Backend Developer salaries
Web3 Solidity Developer salaries
Equity & tokens
Considering that the vast majority of web3 companies are startups, it is a high chance you'll get equity as a part of your compensation. Also, working for a web3 tech startup means that employees can be often paid in tokens if they want. Both equity and tokens can dramatically rise in value if the project takes off.
Remote flexibility
Seeing as there’s a far greater demand than supply of blockchain engineers, these can often set their own rules when applying for a job. As such, those looking to land a blockchain developer job will likely have a ”work from home” option. Considering all web3 industry is about decentralization, it perfectly matches with remote-first working culture.
Key things to make a successful transition
Although web3 has its new concepts and terms, the underlying technology is built on something that exists for at least 50 years. So, if you have already worked in tech, you probably have most of the skills required.
Understand what stays the same
The one thing that stays the same between web2 and web3 apps is that all of them are just websites (or mobile apps) to begin with. Speaking about front-end, if you know how to build UIs with React, nothing changes. You can build UIs for both web2 and web3 apps. The difference lies in how web2 and web3 apps handle data and authentication.
Understand what’s different
(1) There is a big paradigm shift in how web2 and web3 apps handle data and authentication.
• Instead of managing passwords and access tokens, you will be dealing with wallet connections and signed messages in the web3 world. Your wallet is a store of identity and value owned by you that you use across all dapps.
• Instead of making network requests to a centralized API server somewhere, you will be reading data from the blockchain directly, usually from smart contracts.
(2) Data mutation in web3 is exceptionally different from web2.
• While POST requests in web2 usually take a few hundred milliseconds, smart contract calls/transactions in web3 can take anywhere between a few minutes and forever.
• Smart contracts and anything on the blockchain is immutable in nature. Once it's there, it's there. If you want to change it, it usually costs money, and sometimes it's impossible. Each time you mutate a smart contract’s data, you pay a fee.
(3) You’ll also be dealing with different networks.
• You want to make sure that users and the smart contracts they’re interacting with are on the same network.
Have a roadmap
(1) Begin with the fundamentals. Be able to understand and explain key concepts like:
What is a blockchain?
What are use cases for blockchain?
What is a smart contract?
Why is bitcoin important?
How does Ethereum work?
(2) Gain knowledge based on your specialization. You can find some great starting points for any industry here:
(3) Apply your knowledge and start building your portfolio. Building is the best way to learn.
- https://buildspace.io
- https://cryptozombies.io
- https://thirdweb.com
(4) Security is a tremendously important part of web3. So once you build, understand how to break things. As a bonus, breaking things down will help you solidify what you've learned from building.
- https://ethernaut.openzeppelin.com (Ethereum)
- https://damnvulnerabledefi.xyz (Ethereum)
- https://workshop.neodyme.io (Solana)
Don't hesitate to apply for jobs
There is a huge shortage of web3 talent. You're already in high demand if you've served in a web2 role at a high level and are actively learning web3. Besides, a big amount of companies are hiring strong web2 engineers with zero web3 knowledge and giving them opportunities to learn as they work. That's why it makes sense to apply for web3 jobs regardless of your experience and job requirements.
The majority of hires over the next few years will be looking to move into web3 just like you. So don't get fooled by imposter syndrome when interviewing - ignore it. Just apply, start the process, learn, and iterate again. This space rewards those who learn by doing and keep moving forward.
And if you want to effortlessly receive web3 offers directly from startup founders and hiring managers - here is your place to start. Take the first step and things will come naturally.
Conclusion
Now that you know what it takes to make a transition to web3, ask yourself once again do you really want it. If the answer is yes – you're gonna witness something extraordinary!
Start gaining those skills from the roadmap. And if you think you are ready - what are you waiting for? We'd be happy to help - create a profile and let your dream web3 job find you.
Good luck! WAGMI ;)
Additional resources
https://ethereum.org/en/developers
https://solana.com/developers
https://dev.to/dabit3/the-complete-guide-to-full-stack-ethereum-development-3j13
https://opensea.io/blog/guides/non-fungible-tokens/
https://github.com/OffcierCia/DeFi-Developer-Road-Map
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