Do practice interviews at companies you don't really want to work for. It takes the pressure off and makes the real interviews easier.
The latter will either get you a salary increase or you'll be shown the door. Ask me how I know.
Sounds good on paper. In practice, what people do on Github is worthless.
I've only one company ever actually looked at what I made on GitHub. Otherwise, they'll never check out what I've done even if a project is listed on a resume. Nobody has the time or amount of shits to give to actually review your own code. Very few people I know who are working as software engineers even have any serious projects or contributions on GitHub.
As much as I love doing side projects, the idea that companies care what I do on GitHub is some of the worst advice I've encountered. Now my profile is full of trash I've forked along the way and it hasn't made a lick of difference as to how many interviews I've gotten.
Basically, I’m looking for good signal, but that can show in a lot of different ways for different people. If OSS or side project or whatever is something you enjoy doing, or if you’re not working full time and struggling to prove that you can bring the goods, these sorts of things can help you.
The job candidates didn't create this problem.
Most companies disclose what their process is up front and you're free to opt out at any time. Intentionally wasting the time of the recruiters and engineers at companies you don't want to work for just to "practice" just seems really rude
That's funny. You should do stand-up.
The argument cuts both ways. If the company rejects most people they bring for an on-site interview, then they are OK with wasting a lot of people's time. It is the company's responsibility to screen their candidates better.
Among the FAANG companies, 7 different recruiters contacted me this year (including multiple recruiters from the same company - for different divisions). I didn't apply to any of them. I got past their screen and they brought me on site.