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> But at the same time, to be fair, this was a way easier task in the early 00s

The best junior I've hired was a big contributor to an open source library we were starting to use.

I think there's still lots of opportunity for honing your skill, and showing it off, outside of schools.

Agreed. One of my mentors early on was a self taught engineer and honestly I'd trust him a lot more than some of the engineers with degrees

> The best junior I've hired was a big contributor to an open source library we were starting to use.

From my experience no one cares. You're lucky if recruiter even looks at your CV, not to mention your GitHub profile.

This is why I've managed to help startups I have worked at make better hires; I look at the code candidates have written, and poke through the commits on GitHub.

As a candidate, you highlight it yourself!

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