Got removed from my first blockchain job — now scared to ask for help again

I totally get this. My first blockchain internship ended badly too — I asked tons of questions because I didn’t want to ship buggy code, but it came across as hand-holding.

What helped me in my next role was framing questions differently. Instead of “I’m stuck”, I’d say “I tried A, B, and C, but here’s where I’m blocked.” That single line shows effort and critical thinking. Most senior Solidity developers respect that. They don’t expect you to know everything, but they do expect you to own your debugging path.

The fact that you’re reflecting on this already shows growth. In my experience, the juniors who learn fastest are those who combine self-research + mentorship. Before asking, do a quick check. Is this a “how” problem (you can Google it) or a “why” problem (needs team context)? For example, if it’s about reentrancy or CEI, that’s a “why” question — ask it. But if it’s syntax or config, try solving it yourself first. Showing you’ve tried before asking builds massive trust, especially in blockchain security-focused teams.

You probably weren’t wrong for asking questions. The problem might have been how you asked and when. In blockchain projects, context-switching is expensive; if you interrupt someone every hour, it breaks flow.

Try batching doubts: note down small issues while you continue testing, then ask once you’ve hit a real blocker. That way, your seniors see you as persistent, not dependent.

Also, debugging tools like Hardhat stack traces or Foundry’s fuzz testing can solve half the issues without external help.

I’ve been working on smart contracts for a while now, and honestly, the biggest shift for me came when I stopped treating every blocker the same. Some things are worth grinding through — like weird Hardhat errors, Foundry test quirks, or figuring out why a modifier isn’t firing. That’s just normal day-to-day debugging. But there are areas where I learned the hard way that guessing is dangerous: storage slot ordering in upgradeable contracts, delegatecall behavior, proxy initializers, and anything that impacts state transitions. These aren’t “Google and fix” problems — they depend heavily on how the team designed the system.

What helped was writing down what I think is happening before asking. Not for anyone else, just for clarity. When I eventually went to a senior with: “Here’s my hypothesis, here’s the diff I tested, here’s the weird trace I saw,” the conversation became productive instead of hand-holding. The effort shows. And seniors respond to that.

How one can get a Web3 career, backed with years of software engineering experience? Every company, every team, almost every recruiter out there wants a senior with +3 years of experience in web3. This separation of Web3 from general software engineering path is ridiculous.