Complete Guide to Becoming a Cryptocurrency Intern from Scratch: 6 Years of Practical Experience Shared by the Former Head of Social Media at Binance and Current CT Lead at Coinbase

Original: Full Guide: Go From Zero Experience To A Crypto Intern

Original Author: @AlexOnchain
Original Compiler: 雪糕战神

The purpose of translating this article is to help more graduates, like myself, find their desired internships or jobs in the crypto space.

Why You Should Read This Article 🎯

If you are passionate about cryptocurrency and want to enter the industry in social media or community management but don’t know where to start—this article is for you.
I am AlexOnchain, and I have worked in the cryptocurrency industry for 6 years, serving as the head of social media and community at Binance for 4 years, and now I am Coinbase's first "Crypto Twitter Lead." During this time, I have hired and trained many interns, some of whom are now better than I am.
This article will tell you:

• How to build a knowledge system from scratch

• What core skills you need to master

• How to get your first job

• How to stand out in the workplace

• How to accelerate your career growth

Ready? Let’s get started.

Part 1: What is a "Crypto Intern"? 🤔

Role Definition
In the cryptocurrency space, an "intern" is usually not a real intern. It’s an inside joke that actually refers to someone responsible for social media and community management.
This role is far more important than you might think. A good intern can shape brand image, drive community growth, and influence product direction.
The scope of work may include:

• Social media operations

• Community management

• Content creation

• Growth strategies

• Public relations

• Product feedback

Part 2: Qualities of an Excellent Intern ⭐

Core abilities you need to possess
Personality Traits:

• 🔥 High curiosity and enthusiasm

• 🧠 Understanding of human psychology

• 🚀 Entrepreneurial spirit

• ⚡ Fast work pace

• 💬 Good at virtual communication

• 😄 Sense of humor

• 🎨 Creativity

• 🦁 Slightly rebellious spirit

• 👀 Ability to accurately gauge the atmosphere

• 📈 Desire for career growth

Hard Skill Requirements:

• Deep product knowledge

• Obsession with industry trends

• Excellent writing skills

• Understanding of brand messaging

• Experience in content creation in some form

• Familiarity with social media and algorithms

Key Insight: Doing well in this role is harder than most people think. You can't force yourself to fit into a job; instead, you need to find a position that fits perfectly.

Part 3: Must-Read Book List 📚

These 6 books will help you build a solid foundation:

1. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook

• What to learn: Concise and powerful writing and sales techniques
• Why it’s important: Helps you express yourself better at every stage

1. On Writing Well

• What to learn: Writing and critical thinking
• Why it’s important: Teaches you to think and communicate clearly

1. Purple Cow

• What to learn: Differentiation thinking and innovative marketing
• Why it’s important: Helps you understand how to stand out

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People

• What to learn: Interpersonal skills
• Why it’s important: In the era of remote work, relationship-building skills are crucial

1. Extreme Ownership

• What to learn: Responsibility and leadership mindset
• Why it’s important: This mindset will simplify your career path

1. Trust Me, I'm Lying

• What to learn: Creative content strategies and media operations
• Why it’s important: Helps you understand how to create discussions and viral content

Go buy these books now. Don’t say you don’t have time—because your competitors are reading them.

Part 4: Core Skill Enhancement 🎓

Writing Skills ✍️

The truth: Great writers are actually great editors.

The first draft is never good enough. It needs to be revised and polished repeatedly until it becomes perfect. To improve your writing, you just need to keep writing and ruthlessly edit your work.

Action Steps:

• Start a Twitter, blog, or newsletter

• Continuously create content

• Focus on simplifying complex concepts

• Maintain consistency

Einstein said: "If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself."

Mark Twain said: "I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one."

Mastering writing will also enhance your internal communication skills, which are crucial for career growth.

Community Knowledge 🤝

The best interns know the users and community better than anyone in the company. Their opinions are invaluable in product decisions, marketing campaigns, and crisis management.

How to Become That Person?

Consume Content:

• Curate your follow list carefully

• Listen to industry podcasts

• Join relevant communities

• Read news and observe community sentiment

Create Content:

• Share educational content

• Create entertaining content

• Mix long and short forms

Consuming content helps you understand what’s happening and what people are thinking. Creating content forces you to learn, form your own opinions, and optimize based on feedback.

Product Knowledge 💡

A deep understanding of the product helps in every aspect of this job. Your manager and team will value this, and you will be better able to assist the community.

Learning Methods:

1. Be a user Use and test a wide variety of products, both on-chain and off-chain. First-hand experience is irreplaceable.

2. Create content Write articles about products and technologies. This will deepen your learning and enhance your ability to simplify, teach, and communicate.

Content Planning 📅

Content planning serves two purposes, and you need to excel at both.

The first is obvious: Plan your publishing schedule, ensure content diversity, and maintain consistent output. This also gives you more time to be creative and handle unexpected situations.

The second is internal: Show your manager a clear content plan or strategy to build trust and gain more autonomy.
Three main content pillars:

1. 📖 Educational content

2. 🎉 Entertaining and interactive content

3. 💎 Content showcasing unique advantages

Core Principles:

• Maintain content diversity—frequently publish different types of content to avoid monotony

• Quality first—never publish mediocre or worse content

• 80/20 Rule—80% or more of your content should provide value, 20% or less for promotion

• Keep it simple—never overcomplicate

• Original and creative

Community Interaction 💬

The worst thing is to be a one-way communicator. You want people to interact with you, right? But if you don’t interact with them, they won’t do so either.

Therefore, dedicating time to community interaction is crucial.

This builds trust, fosters connections, makes the brand feel more authentic, and allows you to identify and solve problems.

Three Key Principles:

1. Context is King 🎯 Before replying, ask yourself:

• Do you know who the other person is?

• Do they have a bad track record?

• Could your comment be misunderstood?

• Is that positive message actually sarcastic?

If you want to follow a trend, do you know all the background? Are you doing it right? Is there a risk?

Unless you are sure, don’t do anything. Do your research first.

2. Brand Positioning 📊 A comedian on stage with a microphone has a huge advantage over someone heckling from the audience. The audience knows the comedian, he’s on stage, and has a way to amplify his voice. It’s like how big brands speak vs. how small brands speak.

Brand size and recognition determine how your message is received.

Big Brands: Higher risk of miscommunication, but due to their size, the standards for interaction and comments are relatively low.

Small Brands: Lower risk of miscommunication, but if not well-known, replies may seem like desperate attempts for exposure. So better research, higher quality, and more nuanced handling are needed.

3. Active and Passive Interaction 🔄 Do both. Interact with those engaging with your content. Engage with community members’ content. If you’re confident, you can even try to interact with people outside the crypto space.

Most importantly: Make it feel real and sincere. You don’t want to come off as a robot.

Learning Cases 🌟

Study how these excellent accounts operate:
@_kaitoai excels at leveraging industry trends and community engagement to generate interaction while seamlessly integrating products without making it feel like an ad.
@Polymarket / @HugoMartingale are examples of outstanding humorous content and naturally integrating products into culturally relevant posts.
@intern if the name isn't enough proof, he is responsible for the growth of the most anticipated crypto projects and often shares marketing insights, known for his memes throughout the industry.
@PendleIntern is an excellent case of simplifying complex technical content.

Part 5: How to Get a Job 💼

Job Search Channels

If possible, don’t rush into job hunting. Look for a position with excellent leadership and plenty of growth opportunities.

There’s nothing better than working in an environment that encourages and guides ambitious people.

Best Job Search Channels:

1. Social Platforms 📱 Twitter, Telegram, Discord—We are a community-first industry, and the best places to find community-related positions are these native channels. Check pinned messages, dedicated channels, use the search bar, sub-communities, etc.

2. Company Websites 🌐 Choose your favorite crypto companies and check their websites for job openings.

3. Reach Out Proactively ✉️ Contact teams you like to see if they have openings. Pitch why you would be a good asset.

4. Utilize Your Network 🤝 Ask friends if they know anyone hiring.

5. Build Your Personal Brand 🌟 Jobs will come to you.

6. Collaborate with Recruiters 👔 There are some excellent recruiters in the crypto industry. I highly recommend connecting with people like @0xwillthetrill.

7. Job Boards 📋 If all else fails, these sites can be useful for finding job openings. Personal connections are not the first choice, but still worth checking.

Application Strategy

Core Idea: Quality >>> Quantity

Think from the recruiter’s perspective when applying for jobs. They want to find the right person as quickly as possible. Anything that makes it easier for them to do so will catch their attention.

Now apply this to your approach: Stand out as much as you can and demonstrate that you are the right fit for the position so that your application gets noticed.

How to do it:

❌ Avoid "one-click apply" options This doesn’t show any real interest or commitment.

✅ Apply directly in a creative way Take the time to stand out and prove why you are the right candidate.

✅ Contact recruiters or hiring managers For example, if you’re applying for a community position, you can reach out to the community lead (make sure to approach wisely).

✅ See if someone can recommend you

Examples of standing out:

1. Include personalized information that shows you are particularly interested in the position

2. Provide undeniable value. For example, attach "10 Ways to Improve Your Social Media" in your application

3. Get creative!

Interview Tips

I have conducted hundreds of interviews. Next time I go for an interview, I will do the following:

Be Well Prepared 📝

• Ensure I understand the company, their vision, especially their current work and performance in the area I’m applying for

• Review my work experience, focusing on the best and worst examples, key learnings, insights, and responsibilities

• Be ready to reference these at any time

Be Specific 📊 Include specifics and data whenever possible

Stay Humble 🙏 Give credit to others who contributed to the team while clearly stating my role

Keep Answers Concise 💬 Don’t ramble, stay on topic

Build Rapport 😊 Be friendly and try to connect with the interviewer

Ask Good Questions ❓ (detailed below)

Always remember: The company wants to hire you! They hope you are the right fit for the job. They want you to win—so go in and win.

Ask Good Questions

Most people I’ve interviewed fail in this part. Questions help show that you really care, you are curious, you are ambitious, and you understand what it takes to succeed in this role.

If there are multiple rounds of interviews, make sure to have questions for each round. Saying the previous interviewer answered all your questions doesn’t look good.

Your questions have two goals:

1. Gather Information Gain deeper insights into the role, company, and team. You should understand the culture, expectations, leadership style, challenges, and preferences.

2. Convey More About Yourself Show curiosity, strategic thinking, and focus on adding value.

Examples of Quality Questions:

💡 "What is the creative review process like, and what are the limitations?" Shows you understand how similar teams might operate and that you are doing due diligence to see if this company fits your preferences.

💡 "If you were to join this company again today, what three pieces of advice would you give yourself?" A thoughtful question that helps you gain insights into the culture and gives the interviewer a creative way to share their learnings.

💡 "What is the biggest challenge the team is currently facing, and how are you addressing it?" Gain insights into internal challenges and problem-solving. Shows you are a solution-oriented person.

💡 "How would you describe the ideal candidate for this role?" Get a blueprint for success in this role.

💡 "How does the marketing team collaborate with other departments (like communications or product)?" Shows understanding of cross-functional collaboration and broader business goals.

💡 "What growth and development opportunities does the company provide for marketers?" Shows you are looking for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.

💡 "What do you like most about working at this company?" Build a deeper connection with the interviewer and understand the work environment.

Remember: Interviews are two-way. They are checking if you are a fit, but you also need to check if they are a fit for you.

Don’t be afraid to ask about what matters to you—this shows your character, and if they are unwilling to answer, that’s a red flag.

Job hunting is not an exact science. Many factors are at play. Keep trying, stay focused, and most importantly, be patient. Finding the right match takes time. Treat every interview as a learning experience. You will succeed. Good luck!

Part 6: Secrets to Workplace Success 🏆

Key to Building Trust

The best employees have the full trust of their managers, colleagues, and other senior team members. With trust comes more freedom and opportunities.

Three Key Elements:

1. Set Expectations 🎯

You and your manager need to be completely aligned on:

• What your work is

• How it will be measured

• What success looks like

I have worked with outstanding people who technically did well but ultimately failed. The problem was that the work they were doing was not what the manager wanted them to do.

How to Align:

• Ensure clear communication channels with your manager. Have weekly 1-on-1s, bringing updates, questions, and support needed

• Align on key metrics—what 1-3 statistics will measure the effectiveness of your work? Ensure you can fully control them

• Agree on clear, measurable, and time-bound goals, such as "Achieve a 20% increase in engagement by Q4." Ensure you are confident you can achieve them

• Check in regularly—use weekly touchpoints to continuously focus on the key points you agreed upon and your performance in those areas. Show that you are reliable and consistently delivering

1. Early Wins 🎉

One of the best ways to adapt to a new job is to achieve early wins. Accomplish things that your team easily recognizes as good. This helps people have confidence in you right away and makes you feel less like an imposter.

3. Results > Effort 📊

In reality, you need both, but always, always focus on results. How many hours you work doesn’t matter; what you achieve does.

A checklist of tasks you completed is meaningless. Increasing engagement by 100% is outstanding and indisputable.

Effective Communication

Communication is everything in the business world, especially when working remotely.

You need to be able to collaborate, update, and inform effectively. Here are some of my suggestions:

Core Principles:

🎧 Listening and understanding are key Be empathetic and understand your audience and their perspectives.

✍️ Learn to write well

💎 Clear and concise Avoid jargon and complexity.

📍 Context is King Never assume knowledge. Always provide enough context so anyone can understand.

🔄 Test and Learn If you receive a lot of follow-up questions, or your requests go unanswered, figure out how to do better next time.

👥 Know Your Audience Use the appropriate communication style and channels.

⚡ Stay accessible and responsive

🔮 Optimize your communication to avoid extra questions Anticipate your audience’s questions and concerns and address them in advance.

❓ Apply the "So What?" test Clarify the key points of your message. If you need something, ask clearly. If you want them to know something, highlight it appropriately.

🎯 Self-Awareness Figure out when you are giving too much or too little and adjust.

📚 Further Reading: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

Excellent Collaborators

Key Tip: Have you set the other person up for success?

In other words, have you given them the background, expectations, and any other information or support to get the job done? Whenever collaborating with others, ensure they are set up for success.

Collaboration Points:

Reduce Back-and-Forth ⚡ Less discussion, fewer questions, more action. Find out how to reach consensus quickly. Do your best to keep things moving forward.

Look for Win-Wins 🤝 Shared goals ensure that all teams involved gain something from the work. Find compound opportunities where collaboration yields more than individual contributions, making this collaboration the best use of their time.

Be the leader you want to see in the room 👑 Take the initiative to organize chaos so others can keep up.

Seek Help 🙋 You are not the best at everything. The smartest thing you can do is realize how foolish you are. Never suffer in silence. Seek help from experts to move forward faster.

Other Tips

1. Take Ownership 👑 Approach your work with an ownership mindset. Be responsible, proactive, and think long-term.

You own the results of your role. You can and should do everything you can to ensure things get done and results are achieved.

2. Stay Engaged 🗣️ This is a win-win. Gain more attention and understand what’s happening better. The best part is it’s easy:

• Speak up in meetings

• Provide constructive criticism when appropriate

• Share insights and conclusions from your area of expertise if others can benefit (make them actionable)

• Be proactive

• Solve problems

• Point out issues (along with solutions)

3. Have Fun 😊 Enjoying your work makes you better. More creative, less stressed, higher morale.

Remember, you choose your attitude, and it’s contagious.

📚 Reading: Fish: A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Part 7: Career Growth Path 🚀

All of the above is your minimum viable product. It will make you an excellent employee.
To take it to the next level, you must do more. The best summary is: Find out what your company truly needs and deliver it. If you can do it better than anyone else, that’s a bonus.
I went from employee to managing a team of over 20 people in less than 3 years, working for the biggest brand in my industry. Here are the top ten career growth tips I would share with anyone willing to listen.
Before we start, these are the prerequisites for applying these tips:

• You should already be performing well within your core job scope

• Your company needs to be growing

• You need to be in a company and team that supports and encourages ambitious people

Top Ten Career Growth Tips

1. Take Ownership 👑

Step up and act like a leader. Take ownership of what’s around you. Solve problems and get things done. This first point is here for a reason—this mindset is everything for me.

Fast-growing companies always have more to do. There are gaps, issues, and inefficiencies. Find them and solve them—you will make everyone’s life easier, and it won’t go unnoticed.

The bystander effect is common in large teams. Many people know what needs to be done, but few will do it because they think someone else will. You should be the one who does it.

In the end, make things happen. Be the person who cuts through the noise and prioritizes execution. Help the team move forward and accomplish important things. If there’s slack, pick it up or ensure it gets picked up.

📚 Further Reading: Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

2. Excellent Communication 💬

Great communicators get things done effectively, build trust, and foster great work.

The theory of good communication is easy to say but hard to do. My advice is to regularly review these points and always actively work to improve your craft.

The best way is to digest all available feedback points, paying particular attention to immediate or short-term feedback opportunities.

Feedback examples: How much response internal announcements get, how certain styles impact engagement on social media, how different techniques help resolve conflicts and reach agreements, etc.

Over time, if you pay attention, these small pieces of feedback will teach you a lot. Study daily interactions with quick feedback, iterate, and repeat.

3. Make Yourself Irreplaceable 💎

Find out what the company needs and deliver it. Bonus points if it’s something no one wants to do.

Essentially, find a niche within the team and own it. If 100 people can do something important, you won’t stand out. If only you can do it, suddenly you stand out.

Bring enough value in important niche areas, and you will quickly get involved in more critical projects.

📚 Further Reading: The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant (first half)

4. Stay Reliable ✅

• Follow up on all action items

• Update when things are delayed, blocked, etc.

• Show up on time. If you’re going to be late, let people know

• Always set expectations

• Deliver beyond expectations whenever possible

If you are already performing well at work, you are likely doing this. However, as you push for growth, you must focus and do even better. Don’t neglect it.

5. Be a Problem Solver 🔧

You need to fix problems, not just identify them. This requires a mindset shift.

I believe there are many things at work that frustrate you. Complaining about issues or even just identifying problems is vastly different from taking ownership and ensuring they get resolved.

❌ Old Mindset: "The community is really upset about a situation, and they are all asking us why we did that. We should do something!"

✅ New Mindset: "The community is really upset about this situation—this is what we should do. I’ve drafted a proposal and response; CMO, can you review and approve it for release?"

This is a simple mental shift. Everyone loves to complain about things. But take the biggest pain points you notice as challenges and solve them.

Problem-solving is a great way to understand how the organization works, build relationships, and learn new things.

Solving problems has allowed me to work with many different teams and many different people I would never have interacted with otherwise. This quickly builds your network and reputation while you learn a lot.

6. Challenge Yourself 🎯

Growth comes from stepping out of your comfort zone. Embrace challenges.

The goal is to be the "dumbest" person in the room.

Never seek help without first thinking through the problem yourself. Try to find a solution. If you can, when you seek help, provide your suggestions and logic. Right or wrong, you will learn more.

7. Make Decisions ⚖️

Decision-making drives work forward. The more you do, the more you learn and build authority. However, every decision comes with a certain level of risk. You must find your risk tolerance.

Push yourself to figure out how to make bigger decisions over time. Decision-making requires you to understand potential outcomes and care about those outcomes.

You need to deeply understand how your colleagues and closest managers work and think. You must know what they care about and what they consider good.

Work hard to build this understanding. It can be learned by gradually making bigger decisions or by pushing for better documentation (including guidelines, best practices, learnings, etc.).

8. Take Control of Your Time ⏰

Ultimately, good prioritization wins. It distinguishes the best from others.

Our time is limited. Don’t push all ideas forward. Try to bet on the right ones. Deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do.

Optimize outcomes—don’t go with the flow. Ensure you are using your time effectively. The projects you join, the ideas you run, and the problems you try to solve should bring clear benefits to the team.

9. Be Collaborative 🤝

Find common goals and help others and other teams win. You can share resources, build relationships, and drive growth in both parties' metrics. The impact of compound efforts is much greater.

Focus on making people’s lives easier. Everything you do should aim to reduce back-and-forth. If you want someone to do something, clearly tell them what you want and provide all the background and information they need to make a decision.

📚 Further Reading: How to Win Friends and Influence People

10. Create Resources 📖

Concrete your thoughts by writing them down. Then make them available to your entire team to help them.

Guides, training, best practices, scripts—everything can elevate the level of output.

Focus on solving problems, raising standards, and making things more efficient by creating simple documentation.

Note that not everything needs a guide and best practices. Don’t overcomplicate things—this can have a negative impact. Use critical thinking.

Conclusion 🎯

Thank you for reading this far. I hope you found it useful 🫡

Reading is just the beginning. Start applying what you’ve learned so it can truly sink in. Start a blog, create a Twitter account—whatever it is. Just do something to test and learn.

Immediate Action Checklist ✅

1. Do today: Follow 5 excellent accounts in the crypto space Register for a crypto wallet Use a DeFi product

2. Complete this week: Buy at least 1 book from the recommended reading list Publish your first in-depth tweet or article Join 3 relevant communities

3. Goals for this month: Create content daily Actively interact with 10 people Apply for 2-3 desired positions

The most important thing: Don’t wait for perfection. Start now.

Your competitors are already on their way. What about you?

Good luck! 🚀