"...fundamentally irrational character-judging process" is really the wrong impression to go into interview with as a candidate. Seriously, you will handicap yo

"...fundamentally irrational character-judging process" is really the wrong impression to go into interview with as a candidate. Seriously, you will handicap yourself if you see it this way. Competency is only one component of a hiring decision. After some base threshold of competency, the question then becomes whether or not you, the candidate, is going to be someone that the team WANTS to work with. Bolstering your OSS projects is fine but you'll get a better return on investment for your time to practice "behavioral interview" questions. This is absolutely the hardest type of interview but in the hands of experienced hiring managers it works better than any other technique, IMHO. If you can find an experienced mentor who will do mock behavioral interviews with you and give you honest constructive feedback, that will boost your interview skills more than anything else.