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Mercy
Mercy

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Does your GitHub profile actually help you land a job?

Many people in workplaces and tech environments debate the importance of a GitHub profile for landing you a job. Many employers expect to see a link to your GitHub, considering it a representative portfolio for developers🤔🤷‍♀️.

đź‘‹Hey, Code Wizards, how are doing, I am doing great. I have been seeing these types of discussions for so long. I've been on LinkedIn, X, Mastodon, and almost every developer community. People are being encouraged to paint their GitHub green as evidence of their commitment and ability to meet client needs. But how far true is that?

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What if you have a personal repository but rarely commit to it, and your work mostly happens in private corporate repositories that you can't showcase?

Share your thoughts in the comments and tell us what you think

Top comments (23)

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juniourrau profile image
Ravin Rau •

When considering a beginner or junior position, it might be worth taking them into account. However, for more senior roles, it’s generally not the case. Many professionals, especially those in corporate positions, contribute significantly to private repositories that aren’t publicly visible. It’s important to remind employers that quality over quantity matters. Well-documented, impactful projects speak volumes about your abilities, even if you don’t have a lot of commits.

One way is to create public repositories for your side projects, tutorials, or tools. This way, you can showcase your skills in action and attract potential employers. Another way to highlight your expertise is by sharing technical blogs or participating in open-source collaborations. This will demonstrate your knowledge and commitment to the community.

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devmercy profile image
Mercy • • Edited

Thank you for sharing this valuable advice! I appreciate the emphasis on quality over quantity when it comes to showcasing skills. Impactful projects and well-documented work can really stand out to employers. I created a public repository for my side projects too.

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aijazdeveloper profile image
Aijaz Ahmad •

Agreed

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perisicnikola37 profile image
Nikola Perišić •

I've received a few offers through GitHub as I'm quite active on the platform. If you're interested, we can follow up! Feel free to check out my profile: github.com/perisicnikola37

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Let me check it out

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am very interested here is mine
github.com/mercy-manynge

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perisicnikola37 profile image
Nikola Perišić • • Edited

You are welcome :)
Just do it like this and you will get offers :D
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P.S. On personal account. Not company related

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

This is great. I need to do mine like this. I've been working and contributing to a company, Github, but now I need to balance the two. Thank you for giving me the courage to challenge myself.

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zaidkamil profile image
zaid bin kamil •

Really Doesn't matter

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zaidkamil profile image
zaid bin kamil •

I don't think I matters,look at my profile GitHub.com/zaid-kamil
You will find I am good for nothing and no employer would give me a coding based job. Feels like I have wasted my decade on GitHub profile building

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Your GitHub looks great.

You joined GitHub a long time ago. You have been in this game for a long time. Look at mine: github.com/mercy-manynge. By the time you joined GitHub, I was in grade seven. I need to get some work done.

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zaidkamil profile image
zaid bin kamil •

Its pretty good. I gave you a follow too to see your growth. As of me, my profile is good but still I am not considered for jobs

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

đź‘ŹThank you, I feel honored to be followed by such a great person and don't hesitate to give feedback, that's what makes me grow.

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Once again, thank you for the follow! It's great to hear you're happy with my profile. Have you tried job searching platforms like Indeed, Glassdoor. I think job searching can take time and persistence and opportunities will come your way.

I have not started job searching but I see the industry is tough but if we keep pushing we are going to make it.

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tythos profile image
Brian Kirkpatrick •

If by "profile" you mean "density of projects/activity", no. But if you have a small number of modest projects (doesn't need to be crazy), to which you have contributed a decent SLOC count, that's a different story. Then I can get a good feel for how you practice software engineering, how you solve problems, and how you write code. Completely different story.

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Thanks for the eye-opening adviceđź‘Ź. I was getting it wrong I thought maybe painting the GitHub green even with silly projects helps.

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diso profile image
Wayne Rockett •

If you have a profile that shows you dipping in and getting involved on a wide range of projects on GitHub then yeah looks good, shows you can turn your hand to most things.

However, if like some people I know, your GitHub profile shows you never commit anything on a Friday, because you generally don't bother doing any work on Friday, then it can be bad.

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

I see, this is eye-opening advice. Thank youđź‘Ź

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canro91 profile image
Cesar Aguirre • • Edited

No. But I feel my blog has helped me a bit more.

Once the day after interviewing for a small company, I got a phone call. They wanted me to start a company blog for them. So I declared it a win, even though I decided not to continue the interview process. I had a link to my blog on my CV.

The last time I applied to a job, I was asked if I contributed somehow to the community, I showed my blog and my latest posts. I got the feeling the process went smoother from that on. I didn't have any other interview or coding challenge after that.

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Wow

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fernal73 profile image
Linus Fernandes •

Well, they still expect you to take their coding tests when they do contact you. It might be different if you are maintaining an open source project that has multiple or many users but if that were the case, you'd expect them to pay you to continue doing the same, wouldn't you?

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devmercy profile image
Mercy •

Yes, that many companies still require candidates to complete coding tests as part of the hiring process but I don't think it's necessary especial when one has been contributing to an open source project. It shows already that they can do the job.

Of course I would expect them to pay me because I am providing a solution to their problem.

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