Alert: These “Creative Economy” Skills Are in HIGH Demand

The “career,” as we know it, is dead.

“Well,” clarifies Luke Blackburn, Chief of Staff at Exosphere, “at least the common life script that tells us we can comfortably and easily have one career for our entire adult working life. Now people have multiple careers, or vocations. Vocations as in different life callings at different stages of life  —  makes sense right?”

As astute LFT readers know, I’ve spent the past three weeks in Pedra Branca, Brazil, attending Exosphere Academy.

The crux of Exosphere is to prepare post-Information Age polyps for the Creative Economy — a more conceptual landscape where (creative) skills which cannot be automated by machines will slowly rise to the top.

Biologist Edward O. Wilson provides a sufficient definition, we think, for creativity: “The ability of the brain to create novel situations and settle on the most effective.”

Those who can provide novel solutions to pressing problems in a way which bridges gaps between seemingly disparate fields of thought will be kings. Bringing it down to earth, those who learn how to perform tasks which robots can’t eat and spit out will thrive. Moreover, those who are comfortable providing value directly to their “tribe” without the need or want for a middleman/boss/ruler directing their actions will lead the way.

“A major differentiation between this new economy and the old,” Luke explains, “is that the value you create is provided directly to the end user/customer, rather than your value being filtered through an institution or company and onto the customer. Think freelance economy, think automation economy, think sharing economy. These make up the larger Creative Economy in which value-creators are already participating.”

The main currency of the future, says Luke, is adaptability: “The future belongs to those who can sift through the oceans of noise, recognize and spot trends, find the right information, consume it effectively, and then hack together prototypes and examples to reinforce your learning, in addition to showing that you, ‘get it.’”

To name a few useful skills: Anything which pertains to “bio-hacking,” renewable energy, nanotech, design, UX, Ethereum, smart contracts and programming have a great chance of being in incredibly high demand.

Drilling down further, if you’re hungry for specifics, one noteworthy skill is Python programming.

“Using Python,” says Luke, “you can do everything from create web apps, partake in offensive and defensive cyber operations, GUI development, data analysis, predict stocks (see: gambling), and even build your own machine learning system using TensorFlow to make your own creepy Dogseal knight photos similar to this —

Machine Learning is actually a lot cooler than this

(If you’re interested, Luke explains in more depth why Python is a good choice at this link. In short: Less competition for Python jobs, number of jobs for Python on the up and up.)

Much of my focus here in Brazil, as you may know, has been on the blockchain.

I’ve been asked a few times why I chose to focus on that specifically.

My answer is simple: Ten years out, I think it will be very rare to see an industry unaffected by blockchain technology.

And here’s the rub…

Currently, companies who are interested in implementing blockchain technology into their industry are dying of thirst…

Good talent is VERY hard to find.

If you’re up for the challenge, then, you could find an extremely lucrative career and be very highly sought after in this industry. Provided, of course, you can buckle down and adapt to this ever-shifting landscape.

To dig deeper into this talent drought, and show you exactly what blockchain skills are in high demand, we look to Nick Ayton of CoinTelegraph.

Stay sharp. Stay focused. Stay nimble.

And read on…

What Blockchain Skills Are In High Demand: Digital Headhunter Nick Ayton

Shortfalls in key skills and talents slow Blockchain’s progress to mainstream adoption.

Griff Green, a crypto pioneer, said to a packed house during the Blockchain Expo London 2017 (@Blockcchain_Expo): “There was severe shortages in Ethereum resources, specifically Solidity developers, especially those with smart contracts experience.”

Our London correspondent Nick Ayton asks digital headhunter Philip Butler, director of Larson Digital, what impact the skills shortage is having on Blockchain.

Philip Butler says:

“We don’t see many CVs coming across our desks, and so we have to search for Blockchain talent. In the city of London, the banks have hoovered up available resources as they can afford to pay the big salaries.”

According to Butler, organizations are trying to tempt talent with big salaries and day rates. The scarcity of resources is especially tight in London where the financial centers work alongside the incubators and entrepreneurs based in Shoreditch and L39 at Canary Wharf.

To gain access to talent, one of the big four accounting firms, Deloitte, recently announced it is setting up labs in Dublin. Does this mean the number of new startups in London will be fewer?

Philip Butler says: “Potentially, yes. There are multiple stages of Blockchain adoption which impacts the skills requirements coupled with demand in start-ups. The big technology vendors and now larger businesses are starting to wake up and are wanting to get involved in Blockchain. Demand is up massively but there is not enough talent to go around. Smarter organizations are looking at training staff in a variety of Blockchain skills and this also has important ramifications for the recruitment market who may need to look at training options for creating the next wave of developers.”

Developers and business architects

Which skills are most sought after?

“The shortage is in people who know Solidity, a relatively new language that along with LLL and Serpent is associated with programming smart contracts.  Java, C++, Go and Python are other skills associated with Blockchain where it is easier to convert or upgrade core developers and put them on the Blockchain path. This is such a competitive area that developers on the West Coast in the US can get paid $250,000 a month.”

Philip adds:

“The bigger shortage is not actually developers but business architects, people that can understand the complexity of the new technologies – Blockchain, AI, IoT and robotic processing and apply these to solving real business problems and creating new Blockchain operating models.”

“The market is in desperate need of training and education, both for end customers who are struggling to decide the right approach to tackle Blockchain and the technology vendors whose sales teams don’t have the knowledge to sell the new world that is rapidly approaching.”

Philip agrees that every company needs not only a Blockchain strategy but also needs to build internal capabilities and knowledge.

“Companies will need to be fully educated on Blockchain and understand the potential of the technology that can create a massive strategic advantage but can also be destructive if ignored,” he adds.

Asia, Middle East join competition

Could Blockchain become a victim of its own success now that there is significant momentum and the world is starting to embrace the technology as the transition from the Internet of Information to the Internet of Value and where we will soon have more than 100 bln connected devices in an IoT machine to machine economy?

London is not alone in the fight for talent as Asia flexes its Blockchain muscles committing massively to this new technology, the Middle East looks to build a new Blockchain enabled commercial center and the West Coast looking to invest in Blockchain businesses – where will the talent come from?

Universities in the west are slowly starting to offer more Blockchain and cryptography courses as the tech vendors queue up at the door looking to hire every Ph.D. student they can.

Speaking to a wide audience of Blockchain vendors and attendees, London is not alone. Blockchain centers have emerged in Berlin, Zurich and Singapore, and are also experiencing a high demand for smart contract developers, Blockchain business architects and salespeople that know how to sell new commerce.

[Ed. note: This article originally appeared on CoinTelegraph’s blog, right here at this link.]

Regards,

Nick Ayton
CoinTelegraph

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