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Comment by vezzy-fnord | Hacker News Reader

Not into GitHub? Register a memorable domain and throw together a to-the-point portfolio page instead.

Or use another goddamned software hosting service? I'll never understand this sense of GitHub supremacy amongst trendies.

Otherwise, the advice in general is subpar.

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The good thing about github is that it provides a decent UI for browsing a person's contributions over time. Often a github profile can look busy but when you drill down most of what the person has done is submitted varying versions of their dotfiles.

Then suggest one that is both better than GitHub and doesn't cost you any money. Sourceforge, Savannah, Google Code.. They all suck in comparison.

BitBucket ?

As well as Gitorious and GitLab.

Is having a portfolio website necessary now-a-days? What does HN think?

Having a portfolio website is necessary to get a job at the place most HN entrepreneurs are interested in running. For better or worse, a portfolio or an active github are almost necessary to land a position at a top-tier company or a startup. If you want to work for a generic business that has grown a software division out of necessity then your basic resume will do just fine.

Would you/they discount people who have >5 years experience working for mainstream organisations that might have "grown a software division out of necessity", but no github activity?

Typical thought process for deciding what features a candidate needs to have.

1. I am a good programmer.

2. I have/am X.

3. (Optional) Just-so story about how X makes you a good developer.

4. Therefore, job candidates must have/be X.

I've seen this taken to stupid lengths, where employers want someone who has done professional work with the exact toolchain in use. I don't like car analogies, but it would be like hiring a driver and saying "well, we need someone familiar with the Ford Fusion, and you only have driven a Ford Taurus."

@danielweber i agree about what you're saying, but i tend to find that only happens when a recruiter gets their hands on your CV. If you generally allow yourself or HR team to have direct access to the CV's, they tend to know what will make a good hire, and won't be looking for people who have only driven a Ford "focus"

Maybe a startup, but not a top tier company like google or apple, and definitely not for more senior hires who already have tons of experience.

There are 20 people applying for a job, and 19 of them don't have source code on the web. 1 does.

Who do you think has a higher chance of getting the job? It's a definite plus.

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