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Nope. Sorry but this is nonsense and I really wish this would stop being perpetuated.
The idea that you're showing expertise, etc. just because you have green on your GitHub contributions graph is ridiculous. GitHub is not some barometer of whether someone is a good developer or not.
Some of the best engineers I've worked with don't even have a GitHub account.
Open source work is not always representative anyway of what a person will produce in a professional "day job" environment anyway.
People should have a life outside of work. People have families, other interests. This "side project" culture needs to go away for good.
Remember that your GitHub graph is not you or where you find your value, but it doesn't give a good impression if it's completely empty.
This is such a bad take. This advice is harmful to newbies especially.
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Good points, Joe. I understand where you're coming from and agree a lot with you.
Good developers can have empty GitHub profiles and just entirely leave code at work. There is nothing wrong with having zero open source projects and no side projects.
I have not said that it's a measure of being good, but I have said that it's a wasted opportunity to make a good impression on someone that can hire you. A GitHub presence is not the mark of greatness, but people notice your profile contributions and can find meaninful value in that.
I've also not said that anyone should code everyday to the point that it's harmful. You'll burn out. You're right that people can take the green squares on GitHub too far. It should be mentioned.
Contributing to GitHub can be very helpful though. I've seen this fact to be true in my own career and for others. It's an industry specific platform that people look at, so I put my projects there and contributed where everyone could see that. Multiple people along my journey and in the hiring process have told me that my GitHub contributions meant something to them. It was one of the only things I had to show people that I understood how to be a developer.
It was a huge piece of my portfolio that allowed me to career switch in my 30's and completely change my life for my family. Now I can have a life outside of work because I don't need two dead-end jobs to support my family.
Respect that you're an author and the years of experience you have, Joe. Seriously, nothing but respect because you're a better and more senior developer than me. I appreciate the feedback, and I'll likely update the post based on your response here.
In my former life as a journalist, we would have opinion pieces where one week was one side of the argument, then the next week was the other side. Would love to read a rebuttal post on the flip side from you and promote it. People need to know what you're saying also.
I agree that it isn't the best situation, and it's especially unfair to the vast swatch of developers that aren't involved or interested or just plain don't have time to contribute to random OSS development on top of everything else. This doesn't make someone a poor or incapable developer in any way.
I think (hope) that this post was making the suggestions that it was not because it necessarily demonstrates your abilities in any way; rather, because many employers now include reviewing your GitHub profile as a standard part of the application review/interview process. And as much as that sucks, it's something that most people applying for a development position need to be aware of now, for better or worse. :(
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Nope. Sorry but this is nonsense and I really wish this would stop being perpetuated.
The idea that you're showing expertise, etc. just because you have green on your GitHub contributions graph is ridiculous. GitHub is not some barometer of whether someone is a good developer or not.
Some of the best engineers I've worked with don't even have a GitHub account.
Open source work is not always representative anyway of what a person will produce in a professional "day job" environment anyway.
People should have a life outside of work. People have families, other interests. This "side project" culture needs to go away for good.
This is such a bad take. This advice is harmful to newbies especially.
Good points, Joe. I understand where you're coming from and agree a lot with you.
Good developers can have empty GitHub profiles and just entirely leave code at work. There is nothing wrong with having zero open source projects and no side projects.
I have not said that it's a measure of being good, but I have said that it's a wasted opportunity to make a good impression on someone that can hire you. A GitHub presence is not the mark of greatness, but people notice your profile contributions and can find meaninful value in that.
I've also not said that anyone should code everyday to the point that it's harmful. You'll burn out. You're right that people can take the green squares on GitHub too far. It should be mentioned.
Contributing to GitHub can be very helpful though. I've seen this fact to be true in my own career and for others. It's an industry specific platform that people look at, so I put my projects there and contributed where everyone could see that. Multiple people along my journey and in the hiring process have told me that my GitHub contributions meant something to them. It was one of the only things I had to show people that I understood how to be a developer.
It was a huge piece of my portfolio that allowed me to career switch in my 30's and completely change my life for my family. Now I can have a life outside of work because I don't need two dead-end jobs to support my family.
Respect that you're an author and the years of experience you have, Joe. Seriously, nothing but respect because you're a better and more senior developer than me. I appreciate the feedback, and I'll likely update the post based on your response here.
In my former life as a journalist, we would have opinion pieces where one week was one side of the argument, then the next week was the other side. Would love to read a rebuttal post on the flip side from you and promote it. People need to know what you're saying also.
I agree that it isn't the best situation, and it's especially unfair to the vast swatch of developers that aren't involved or interested or just plain don't have time to contribute to random OSS development on top of everything else. This doesn't make someone a poor or incapable developer in any way.
I think (hope) that this post was making the suggestions that it was not because it necessarily demonstrates your abilities in any way; rather, because many employers now include reviewing your GitHub profile as a standard part of the application review/interview process. And as much as that sucks, it's something that most people applying for a development position need to be aware of now, for better or worse. :(