Metaverse

What are new Career Paths in the Metaverse?

With the crazy interest in the metaverse both from brands and users, there are bound to be some new metaverse jobs that are going to create, maintain and grow the digital world. Let's see what they might be!

February 18, 2022

Could you imagine some 20 years ago that there would be so many tech-related careers? I think no one could. After the Internet became mainstream many things have changed and now we don’t imagine our lives without it.

And now we talk about metaverse. Metaverse has been quite a hot topic for a while. Especially after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of the company to Meta, everyone started talking about it. Brands are actively investing in new technologies to build the future metaverse. Metaverse is predicted to be the future Internet, something that will change our lives entirely.

Still, it’s not created yet and there is a lot of work to do. And when it’s built, there will surely be many new professions that we didn’t imagine existed. So we tried to research what new careers will be in the metaverse and here’s what we found.

What is Metaverse?

Let’s firstly clearly understand what metaverse is and how it can create new career paths.

Well, put it simply, the metaverse is the combination of virtual and physical worlds. It’s doesn’t use just one technology, in fact, all existing technologies combined can form the metaverse. The idea behind the metaverse is to create a fully immersive experience and allow users to “live” in the digital-real world. People would be able to work, hang out, do shopping in this new world.

You may say that many of these things already exist: many people now work from home using their computers, shop through online stores, etc. It’s true, but metaverse would exist in a more global way. It’s like living most of your time in an alternative 3D reality.

You will have a virtual avatar and with that, you can go to work, attend meetings with your colleagues, go shopping, go to the park with your friends, buy virtual lands. So you will truly feel that you’re in that reality. It might require putting on a VR headset or some other device, I don’t know how it will look, but the idea is that you will be living in an alternative reality without leaving your home.

Basically, we will live in a completely different universe. Can you imagine how many new professions will be created? Me neither, but I’m sure there will be so many new things that it would seem like we’re in a sci-fi movie. Though we can already predict which new professions will be highly in demand.

New Career Paths in the Metaverse

Metaverse Software Engineer

In order for the metaverse to be real, someone has to build the metaverse. And that would be software engineers. There are already many AR, VR software engineers today, but metaverse engineers need to have even more skills to create the metaverse.

Today AR and VR engineers create different digital models, that are separate from each other and each company uses them differently. In metaverse, engineers will need to create an entirely new world, where everything is connected. They need to build virtual lands, which will then be used by brands to build their virtual shops or people who will build their virtual homes.

As you see there is a lot to do and we need a lot of engineers to build this new world. In order to become a metaverse software engineer, one has to have knowledge of 3D technologies, AR, VR, MR; skills in programming languages like Python, C, C#, JavaScript, etc. Also, it would be good to have some UI/UX design knowledge, as this new world needs to be user-friendly.

Metaverse Hardware Builder

Metaverse will not be built only on codes. Users will need headsets, cameras and many new devices to connect to the metaverse. This hardware will help people feel the virtual touches, and be fully immersed in the metaverse. You won’t feel any difference between walking in the metaverse and walking in reality.

Metaverse hardware will make people believe that they actually live in this virtual world and walk, shop and do all the things they do in real life. But in reality, users will be just sitting on their couch with a headset or another device.

Besides, they need to make these new technologies accessible to most people. Currently, VR and AR technologies are quite costly and not every brand or person can afford them. In fact, mainly big brands such as Amazon or IKEA now use them to provide new experiences to their customers. But many small brands aren’t able to use these technologies, let alone individuals.

Hardware builders need to have an engineering background and understand how to build complex electronics. This job requires an excellent knowledge of physics, mathematics, mechanics, etc. Also, hardware engineers need to have some programming skills as well as knowledge in AI, robotics, sensors – depending on the specialty of the hardware engineer.

Metaverse Designer

Software and hardware engineers are responsible for building the metaverse, but they can’t do it without designers. It’s going to be a whole new virtual world and metaverse needs to be at least user-friendly. We’re going to need ta a lot of virtual avatar designers, virtual land designers, virtual house and store designers, lighting experts, etc.

It will be like creating a big 3D video game, where designers will be responsible for creating an engaging, user-friendly experience for everyone.

But, as metaverse is much more than a video game, metaverse 3D designers will need more competencies to create this world. They will need a solid knowledge of animation, 3D modeling, illustration, motion design and many other design skills. And besides design skills, they will also need great communication, social skills and a creative mindset.

Metaverse Planner

Imagine a company without a CEO or a country without government – that’s what metaverse will look like without a metaverse planner. Building metaverse is another thing, but ensuring that everything in it functions properly is a completely different talk.

Metaverse planners will be responsible for setting the right goals and creating metaverse development strategies and making sure everything in the metaverse works perfectly. They need to research new market opportunities, develop key metrics and do all other managemental stuff.

This job won’t sound fun for many people, but it’s vital to have metaverse planners if we want the metaverse to fully function. Metaverse planners need to have solid experience in management, knowledge of marketing, business models, economics, etc. And also the ability to work in a team and supervise other team members.

Product Manager

As the number of users and brands will grow in the metaverse, we’ll need more product managers to answer the demand for new products and content. Product managers will need to understand which products will be more in demand, how they can create them, test and eliminate errors and deliver the product for the end-user.

This career path isn’t new, it’s already quite a high in-demand position. Most of the jobs posted on Meta’s career page are product managers. And as we’re going to need more new products tailored to the metaverse, we’re going to need more product managers.

To become a metaverse product manager, one needs to have knowledge of management and marketing and some technical knowledge. This position doesn’t necessarily require coding experience, only an understanding of how to develop and create new products.

Safety Manager

There are so many things to think about in terms of safety: privacy, ID verification, safe devices, etc. And all of this won’t happen on its own. There have to be specialists who will ensure that everything in the metaverse is safe. And that’s the job of the metaverse safety manager.

The safety manager will guide the metaverse builders through all stages of creation, from design to mass production. And it’s not just that. The metaverse safety manager has to clearly identify the safety components and predict the misuse of any technology or system. They should think about both brands’ and users’ safety.

For this position, specialists should have great knowledge in engineering and experience with electronics. They should understand all the processes that will happen in the metaverse and make sure they are all safe for everyone.

Metaverse Marketing Specialist

There will be a lot of brands in the metaverse and of course a lot of marketing jobs. Metaverse is a completely different space and offers new and more interactive ways to provide an unforgettable user experience. Internet marketing is more flat, customers can’t really try the product to understand how good it is. And the metaverse will solve this problem.

There are already companies that use AR/VR technologies in their marketing campaigns. Well, in the metaverse everyone will do that. And we’ll need some very competent marketing specialists who will be responsible for providing an interactive, fully immersive experience for users. We’ll need a lot of metaverse content creators, metaverse ad experts and many other marketing experts.

As marketing is quite a broad space, I think each specialist will need to have different background and experience. But overall, all marketing experts will need to have excellent knowledge in marketing, a creative mindset, the ability to analyze trends and customer behavior to provide the best experience to users.

Final Thoughts

As you see, there is a lot to do in the metaverse. And when the metaverse is ready there will be even more new professions that we never heard about

If your career path is close to the ones mentioned above then with proper experience you have all the chances to work in the metaverse in a couple of years. But if you want to choose a new path in the metaverse, then you don’t need to wait until metaverse comes, start from today, apply to your desired courses and enter the metaverse job market.

Still, keep in mind that whatever you’re doing, you need to be adaptable. Technologies are changing everything around us and if you want to survive in this new world you need to always learn and adapt to new things.