Ask HN: Should I put my github profile on my Resume? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Should I put my github profile on my Resume?

12 pointslukesandberg14 comments

I don't have much stuff on github, and all (2) projects are just things i did for fun just out personal interest.

But nonetheless i am somewhat proud of the little bit of work of mine that is up there. Should I put the url in my resume? Does anyone else do this?

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Yes. That is how I got my current job, and exactly how freelance hirers decide they want to work with me.

My theory is that for a developer, a LinkedIn profile is less useful because it basically just states who you know and what you focus on. Twitter accounts show nothing other than that you exist. You likely want to hide your Facebook - my boss was not my friend until after he hired me ;)

A github account is so much more than a blog. A great one need not have many repositories, nor many followers. It just needs to show that you:

- Can Program

- Document your code

- Use version control well (or at all)

- Love to program

A github account is an easy way for non-designers and non-frontend developers to have a portfolio of their past work. It's also a great way to exercise your mind outside of work.

Nota bene: Make sure you legally can write open source. YMMV, but state law might actually back that silly form you signed when you were hired. It helps when your open source code has nothing to do with your actual job.

Yes! And there are other HN threads with similar questions:

http://searchyc.com/github+resume

Sad but true: Simply demonstrating you know what Github is would put you ahead of half the people who apply for our Rails jobs.

Definitely. Many professions have some kind of portfolio of previous work to demonstrate to a potential employer. Since it's common in the development field to not be able to show any source code you have written from a prior company, any kind of visible open source code you might have should definitely be on a software developer's resume.

Let me piggyback on this one, as it's something I've thought about for a while. I am a committer for an Apache project. Not a major one, but I have the email address to prove it. This happened because I submitted a small patch for a new feature and asked some good questions and they asked me if I wanted to be a committer. Since then, I haven't had much to do with the project (no fault of my own, it's just a solid code base that isn't too popular)

Do I put that on my resume? At what point do OSS contributions become too small to mention?

Any contributions to Open Source Projects, your own projects that you've released, and notable contributions should be shared. Similar to how a designer has a portfolio. If you have a tech-related blog you might want to include that as well (but not your personal ranting and raving blog about how sad you are and that your kitty is ignoring you again.) That's just creepy.

For hiring, sometimes I just want to see the candidate's github account and tech blog. That will say more than the old school resumes.

Absolutely. Github profile (or even knowing what Github is) puts you way ahead of many resumes.

Absolutely. At worst it adds another dimension to who you are and what you can do, at best it might let you sail past tedious technical quizzing.

The company I work for is currently looking for a Rails developer, and I'm first-line in the screening process. A Github profile is a huge plus, and if there's good code in there and/or decent open source activity, it's a major, major bonus.

Definitely. If you have one on your CV I'll check it out, and it gives me things to discuss with you in the interview that you'll be more comfortable with.

For sure, I did : www.metalcat.net

Even though I've just opened an account and there is nothing on there yet, though I link to all things that are me

If i were a prospective employer, i would definitely find that a plus.

It depends on how good your code is ;)

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