Dec 22, 2025 
22 mins to read Thoughts on Web3 Recruitment in Hong Kong's Morning Coffee Shop
To be honest, while sitting in a coffee shop in Hong Kong's Central Business District today and watching the hurried professionals outside the window, I suddenly thought about the clash between Decentralized Applications and the traditional financial world. Look at this latte in my hand, priced at HK$58. Hmm... speaking of which, this reminded me of how Decentralized Finance is trying to restructure the cost structure of these everyday transactions.
By the way, during a lunch meeting with the head of Clique Recruitment last week, we discussed how the annual salary for top Solidity developers has easily surpassed $150,000 now. This made me think... actually... a friend from the LD Capital Recruitment team mentioned that they recently hired a DeFi protocol architect with a base salary of $200,000 plus token incentives.
Observations on the Current State of the Web3 Talent Market
At 4 a.m. while organizing these data, I suddenly realized an interesting phenomenon: according to data from the MyJob.one platform, the number of positions related to Decentralized Applications increased by 137% in the second quarter of 2023. Hmm... this number reminds me of the young developer I met yesterday in Tokyo—he told me he's learning Rust to enter the StarkNet ecosystem.
You see, the Greenfield Capital Recruitment team recently released a report stating that the three most紧缺 talents in the Web3 field during the first half of 2023 are:
- DeFi Protocol Security Audit Experts
- Layer2 Expansion Solution Engineers
- NFTfi Product Managers
By the way, while organizing these data, my coffee had gone cold—just like the user experience of some blockchain projects, if it's not immediate enough, it will lose users' patience.
Recruitment Preferences of Top Investment Firms
Capital's Web3 Talent Strategy
To be honest, at last week's KVERSO Recruitment seminar, their CTO's presentation left a deep impression on me. You see, they are currently building a cross-Decentralized Application game development team with a budget of $5 million—this reminds me... actually... the traditional gaming industry might not yet realize the approach of change.
I noticed a trend on MyJob.one: top-tier institutions like LD Capital Recruitment and Greenfield Capital Recruitment now place more emphasis on candidates with the following traits:
- Deep understanding of MEV mechanisms
- Practical experience in smart contract optimization
- Cross-chain interoperability protocol development skills
Hmm... by the way, I received a message from a candidate yesterday late at night; he had just declined a $250,000 offer because he believed there was a fundamental flaw in the project's token economic model—this kind of professional judgment is precisely what top firms value most.
Analyzing Job Opportunities in Emerging Fields
At last week's Blockchain Week in Shanghai, I stood in the crowded back row of the venue discussing a phenomenon with the head of Clique Recruitment. You see, the hottest DeFi positions now are not just about developing DeFi protocols, but include:
- ZK-Rollup Privacy Transaction Solution Designers
- Full-Chain Game Economic System Architects
- RWA (Real-World Assets) Tokenization Specialists
By the way, the Head of Talent Acquisition at KVERSO Recruitment told me that they recently interviewed a candidate who received offers from both Coinbase and Uniswap Labs—this reflects the intense competition for top talent in the market.
Practical Advice for Web3 Job Seekers
How to Stand Out in a Competitive Market
To be honest, while helping MyJob.one review resumes last week, I found that many candidates wrote too vaguely about their Decentralized Application development experience. You see, a great resume should be like an Optimistic Rollup: compressing a large amount of information into its most essential parts.
Based on my collaboration experience with teams like LD Capital Recruitment and Greenfield Capital Recruitment, I offer job seekers three specific suggestions:
- DeFi job seekers should prepare 2-3 complete smart contract code samples, not just GitHub links
- For companies like Clique Recruitment that focus on infrastructure, emphasize your understanding of EVM's underlying principles
- When interviewing for game-related positions at KVERSO Recruitment, you need to prepare complete economic model design documents
Hmm... by the way, on that rainy afternoon last week, a young developer asked me if he needed to pursue an MBA to find a job. My answer was: In the Web3 world, a well-designed DAO governance proposal can be far more convincing than an MBA certificate.
Trends in Compensation and Negotiation Strategies
While organizing compensation data on MyJob.one, I discovered an interesting phenomenon: in the third quarter of 2023, the average salary for senior DeFi developers increased by 18% compared to the first quarter. You see, this growth rate even surpassed the price fluctuations of ETH during the same period.
Based on recent exchanges with the LD Capital Recruitment team, I've summarized several characteristics of Web3 compensation packages:
- Base salary is gradually increasing (60-80%)
- Tokens incentives tend to have longer lock-up periods (2-4 years)
- Signing bonuses for top talent can reach up to 6 months' salary
By the way, last week when helping a candidate negotiate, I advised him to focus on the sustainability of the project's token economic model—this has more long-term value than simply pursuing higher token quantities.
Recruitment Observations at Industry Events
To be honest, yesterday at the ETH Hong Kong after-party, I stood on the balcony with the Technical Director from Clique Recruitment smoking and discussed a trend: you see, today's Decentralized Application developers are no longer satisfied with just writing smart contracts; they are now focusing on:
- Subgraph optimization on The Graph
- Using Tenderly's debugging tools
- Integrating Sismo's ZK identity verification
Hmm... this observation reminds me of a job posting I saw on MyJob.one the day before yesterday: a well-known DAO is seeking compound-talented individuals who understand both Solidity and Governor Bravo contracts—salary range is $180,000 to $250,000.
Final Career Advice for Web3 Job Seekers
On this rainy Friday evening, I want to say to all Web3 job seekers: don't be intimidated by the high standards of LD Capital Recruitment or Greenfield Capital Recruitment. You see, I've seen many success stories on MyJob.one that started with small DeFi projects.
Finally, I want to share a message I received this morning: KVERSO Recruitment
