Are you worried about your career because you don't have a good resume and think no one will hire you?

Sounds like you? 

What if I told you that in the future, if you want to get a job, no one will ask you for your resume, but they will ask you for your portfolio?

Sounds untrue? Right.

Proof of Work is a revolution that is happening in the way hiring happens, and slowly and steadily, we are moving towards it where people are getting hired based on their portfolio and not their college and resume.

Many startups and big corporations are already on the boat of hiring through Proof of Work.

Subhash Choudhary, the founder of Dukaan hired individuals for intern positions in under just 10 minutes.

What do you think about how he must have evaluated the candidates in only 10 minutes?

The short answer is - By looking at their Proof Of Work.

And authors like Austin Kleon predicted this trend in 2014 and wrote a book titled "Show Your Work," dictating the benefits of sharing your work online.

Even many high-profile people claim that resumes are dying, and one's online presence and proof of work is the new age resume.

So, are you ready to jump on this bandwagon or will you stick with the paper resume?

But wait, what is a portfolio in the first place?

You are saying you have a bunch of skills and are good at them. What do you have to prove?

Here comes a proof of work to your rescue, which is the proof that validates whatever you say.

Your portfolio is a collection of all your best work in one place, demonstrating your skills and abilities.

In a nutshell, saying you know something doesn't necessarily mean you have worked on it. Your work speaks on your behalf and showcases how skilled you are in a particular skill, and proves whether you are worth hiring or not.

This approach helps decision makers hire you for what you can show, not what you speak you know. 

Degrees and certifications from institutions show that you know something but do not indicate that you can do something.

You get identified, judged, and hired based on your work portfolio, which shows what you are capable of doing and what value you can bring to the table, not because of your degree or XYZ college.

"I applied for a Social Media Intern position at a company in the Bay Area, San Francisco and the first thing the hiring manager asked me over the email was to share all the work I have done related to the role I was applying for and then the resume."

What does this indicate?

Proof of Work (Show, don't Tell) Concept

Nope, it is not blockchain proof of work concept, but having something to show others that validates your words.

Discovery, as per individual context, is still a big problem, but it is a massive opportunity in any field like career, dating, food, entertainment, essentially anything.

How will you get the opportunities if people are unaware of your existence?

Having proof of work and actively showcasing them on Fueler makes you and your work discoverable by people from all over the world.

• It builds your credibility,
• Attracts inbound opportunities for you,
• Companies and individuals come to you offering work rather than going to them and asking to hire you.

And it's good to see that many startups and companies are taking this new hiring approach through Proof of Work instead of judging you based on degree or certificates.

I even bagged my first paid internship and some paid writing gigs by showing my work actively on LinkedIn and Twitter ~ Aman Aftab

Relevance of Proof of Work in the Gig Economy

Have you ever heard the words "freelancer" or "freelancing"?

I am sure you have.

But before that, What is the Gig Economy?

The Gig Economy is a market where people hire you on a contract basis for some specific temporary work for a particular period. 

Because hiring full-time employees are expensive for companies, they have to give them bonuses, insurance, and pay even when there is no work and a hundred other things burden them.

Hiring a freelancer involves no burden, and the company enjoys a variety of work and talent because each freelancer is hired based on their portfolio.

The number of people shifting towards this unconventional path is steadily increasing as here, 

• You are your boss, and you are in total control of your time.
• You can charge according to your skill sets and the value you provide. 
• You can work from a laptop by sitting anywhere in the world.
• You decide who you want to work with and what you want to work on.

The Global Gig Economy is projected to reach $455 billion by 2023, up from $204 billion in 2018.

That's a whopping 17.4% CAGR in just four years.

And reports claim that the numbers will only increase, and it is considered the future economic backbone.

Source

The only point of telling is to say that one can only participate and leverage these opportunities if they have substantial proof of work in a place that showcases their expertise.

Why is having a portfolio more crucial than ever?

Having a portfolio gives hiring managers a sneak peek into your skills and capabilities, but in a resume, they don't get to know your actual abilities. 

Many individuals write many kinds of fluff that they don't even know or haven't done anything either.

Proof of work helps in validating their words.

Suppose someone comes from a tier 2 or tier 3 college. In that case, they often don't have access to many opportunities, a positive environment, and exposure to many things.

They can build their skills and proof of work and show it to the world by publishing them on Fueler, this will help in 2 ways: 

• If the work quality is excellent, it will give other people a reason to connect with them, helping them build a connection.
• It will help them and their work gets discovered by others which can lead to various money-making opportunities.

Some developers in my network graduated from tier 3 colleges but received job offers from large corporations worth 18 lakhs and 30 lakhs simply because they were good at what they were doing and actively showcased it on social media.

Examples of Proof Of Work in Find Opportunity

I have written this blog, now if I apply for any content writing role at a company or a startup - then I can use this blog as my proof of work.

Proof of Work is essential for all the best work which you have done around the skill you know.

For instance, if you are a writer then proof of work can be - your blog, a newsletter you run, tweets and threads you have written, an ebook you have published, social media content you wrote etc.

If you are a Developer - A website you coded, an open source contribution you did, or worked on the backend like creating a database or an API, etc.

If you are a Marketer - Writing copies, social media marketing or content marketing for yourself or others, lead generation through content, etc.

If you are a Designer - Designing a logo, designing social media posts for brands, making covers for books or magazines, or essentially anything related to design is your proof of work.

I hope you got the point.

Show Your Work

Austin Kleon wrote a book called "Show Your Work", dictating the importance and benefits of documenting and sharing your journey or work online.

At first, you don't even need a portfolio. Document whatever you are learning or doing on social media so others can see what you are up to. It will attract an audience who cares about the same things you do. 

And this simple thing can open doors and attract many opportunities you would never have expected.

Since our school days, we have been taught to work hard, perform well in schools and colleges, get good grades, and opportunities will come by themselves.

So we went from school to college to courses to other institutions to anyone who would give us a certificate or a degree indicating that we knew certain subjects.

The main problem lies in the fact that we were never taught to market ourselves.

But in today's age, we need to self-learn it to leverage the opportunities, and having proof of work enables you to do that.

Creating a solid proof of work is essential, but showcasing it on platforms like Fueler, where one can get discovered, is way more important.

Follow this Framework

Learn Skills —> Get Good at it —> Build Proof of Work —> Show your work on Fueler

Conclusion and My Take 

Resumes are good, but start building a portfolio, because nowadays, in any job/internship you apply for, they ask you for a resume and also ask you to share the links of your work samples, which can give them a sneak peek into your abilities.

"Proof of work is just 0.1% of what's happening today. A resume is an equation in our society, and it's okay. But having Proof of Work gives you an extra edge in the competition and is a great way to stand apart from the crowd."

- Says by Riten (Founder, Fueler)

Resumes will not vanish entirely anytime soon, but Resumes + Proof of Work will do wonders. So, start building one to get an edge over others who have nothing to show except a resume.

Start showcasing proof of work today, let's start

Special thanks to Aman for writing this blog, he is a Web3 Content Writer, helping Web3, NFTs, DeFi, Metaverse, and FinTech brand build a Solid Brand & Community across Social Media with Organic Content