0xMitz

What is your background?

I am a food science graduate and spent the last several years of my life in international logistics, dealing with export and import of food products. I have come to realize that my passion is, in fact, NOT in destroying the planet by working within the meat industry. Instead, I have a strong affinity for people and community.

I am currently a community manager at Index Coop and an onboarding champion at GitcoinDAO. In my spare time I spend a lot of time taking pictures of my pets and playing video games.

How did you become interested in web3?

I entered the space last year with guidance from a good friend of mine. I found the technology and innovation to be incredibly fascinating. A couple months after learning about the basics and OG protocols, I joined the Index Coop community and was instantly captivated by the Women in Index initiative. They encouraged me to apply to Kernel, and I spent the next 8 weeks learning and meeting like-minded people in this space.

There was no turning back.

What is your role and what do you do?

Index Coop - I am one of several community managers, responsible for ensuring the community needs are taken care of. I am also the Community Pod lead, where we will be experimenting and quantifying the relationship between community growth <> product adoption. 

GitcoinDAO - I am responsible for leading general onboarding initiatives for the DAO. Identifying and directing talent to each of the different workstreams, as well as helping new joiners to learn and contribute to the community.

How did you approach your web3 job search? 

To be honest, with an open mind and a LOT of luck. Maybe the question should be rephrased to: “how did you identify the right web3 opportunity, how did you make the transition?”.

What worked for me:

• Contribute to DAOs and be as fluid as possible. One of the features of a DAO is transparency and fluidity. Check out different teams and see which one really speaks to you. Do not be afraid to try something entirely different from your current role. 
• Build a Twitter presence! It's important to participate in Twitter spaces (so much alpha), and I have also made many meaningful connections via DMs that led to work opportunities. 
  

I knew I had to make the transition when I was sacrificing sleep to learn more about web3 and contribute to Index Coop, but two points of conversation came up: job stability and job security. That was probably the biggest hurdle for me because those 2 points have been so instilled from a young age : go to school, get a degree, get more degrees, start a career, stay in your industry and be secure. 

To overcome the worry of job stability, I had honest conversations with the DAOs I was interested in committing my time to. I expressed what I can bring to the table, and what value I need to survive in the real world. I am aware that I am extremely blessed to be contributing to 2 amazing DAOs that have made this process possible.

To overcome the worry of job security, I had to justify the risk of leaving my web2 job. Ultimately, I decided that passion > risk. I am very grateful to my friends and also my partner for offering support on this decision.

Any tips for people looking to make a similar transition?

Did you come from a non-tech background? Fear not,  there are incredible opportunities in web3 for you. Companies sometimes use Twitter to find applications, like PleasrDAO hiring Head of People and Crypto, Culture & Society looking for Artist in Residence and Social Experience Lead. And oftentimes all it takes is to just put yourself out there (evidence: Justina posted about her non-tech mom looking for a job and it got more than 900 likes!!). Excited yet?

Furthermore, I highly encourage having open conversations with your prospective employers around compensation and expectations around time commitment. Compensation I already mentioned before, but having a discussion around what you need to survive + what you can bring to the table will ensure both parties are satisfied with the dollar value. 

With regards to time commitment, it’s important to set these boundaries in advance. A 24/7 market and working with an international team means someone is always online. It makes it tough to unplug and rest well, if you do not set these in advance for yourself. Do what works for you, but communicating this to your future employer from the start is a no-brainer.