For context, I have a (now inactive) stackoverflow account with ~250,000 reputation. For a long time, I was the top answerer for many tags in the scientific python ecosystem (e.g. matplotlib, scipy, briefly top for numpy as well) and was in the top 10 for python as a whole at the time (i.e. showed up on the "top answers" page).
I was really proud of that once, and spent awhile going from "this is a fun distraction" to "oh, this could get me a job and help me switch careers, I should focus on it".
Not trying to brag there, just trying to put it in perspective. My SO track record was significant enough, particularly ~5 years ago when I was actively applying, that I really thought it would help me get jobs or at least give me an edge. It didn't.
I've never had my stackoverflow stuff asked about or mentioned in an interview before by the person interviewing. The couple of times I've incidentally brought it up during an interview (as an example of a specific problem they were asking about or as an example of teaching/training/communication), it went over as a lead balloon.
My OSS contributions (which are slim and were all a long time ago) have opened doors, but stackoverflow hasn't, at least that I know of.
I'm not saying it's not rewarding or that I regret it, just that, at least for me, it didn't seem to help in terms of job opportunities, and at the time, I was a bit disappointed in that.
Being top 1% contributor in Go would tell a recruiter you know Go but the job probably involves other technologies you need to prove yourself in. Even in the rare case that you are top contributor in every technology on their checklist, the job might still involve domain knowledge that isn't purely tech. Or they'd want to evaluate your personality.
Anecdote: not to brag given my skepticism above but so far the only online activity of mine that lead to a job offer was a Ruby Github repo on traditional AI. The catch: I am not a Rubyist and that repo was nothing more than a fork I'm studying. Long story short, I was looking for a job then, this consulting firm saw my Github profile so I got an interview. Onsite, the TL looked at my resume, visited my profile, saw the Ruby project, asked a few questions about it, and then recommended me for an offer with the hiring manager.
I did not take the job because (a) they looked desperate for anyone in the process and (b) I would've bailed anyway because I already found a company I'm set on joining. Nothing more came of it other than this HN comment.
I am somewhat biased, I also have a high-rep account (mostly from C questions). I have not tried drumming up interest when interviewing, though.
Are there any numbers available on that? Do people on SO really get job offers if they have a high enough reputation? If so, are the offers from high-quality companies doing interesting things?
All of my previous job changes have been due to "in real life" networking. In order words, a friend of a friend recommended me for the job. I'm not looking to change jobs anytime soon but I sometimes wonder if my lack of online presence would hurt my chances of finding another job if had to. I have a blog and and a github account but both are pretty bare. I don't have a LinkedIn account because they started spamming me 15 years ago and they have been blocked by my email server ever since.