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As a hiring manager, I glance at it and take a brief look at anything interesting. It’s good for talking points at the interview, perhaps to ask the candidate t

As a hiring manager, I glance at it and take a brief look at anything interesting. It’s good for talking points at the interview, perhaps to ask the candidate to expand upon and explain the work. If the profile is empty, I close the tab and find something else to talk about. I will never, ever penalise a candidate for an empty GitHub profile. So many people just do not have time for open source and that’s totally fine. GitHub activity helps lubricate conversation at interviews, but it should never be taken as anything other than a superficial representation of the candidate’s ability or experience.

PopeDotNinja 8y ago
+1 for this. I used to be a recruiter, and knew hiring managers looked at GitHub profiles. When I started, I used to to stress out over pushing crappy code to my GitHub account. At some point I realized that anyone judging me for stuff I put into GitHub was simply not someone I would ever want to please. My GitHub is mostly a graveyard for experiments, learning, and goofing off, and that is exactly what I want it to be :) If you have something really notable in your GitHub account, maybe it should probably be on your CV/resume, too!
- _asummers 8y ago
  I've started doing this -- my resume has an "Open Source and Public Speaking" section for putting in noteworthy GH accomplishments.
- gumby 8y ago
  I’m curious: why bother to use GH then? Why not simply have various repos in your filesystem? It feels to me like having a blog site and only putting notes, scraps and drafts in it. Maybe there’s some functionality i’m not seeing?
  - PopeDotNinja 8y ago
    It's a good question, and I don't have a specific answer. I guess the short answer is because I want to. It's convenient for a number of reasons.
  - Washuu 8y ago
    I push to Gitlab from home so that I can pull down to the computer in the shop. Fleshing out an idea is much more comfortable in the home than standing up in front of a an old computer.
- wildpeaks 8y ago
  You could keep experiments in private repos if you worry about showing crappy code.
travisjungroth 8y ago
I penalize people slightly for an empty GitHub if they put it on their resume, just out of annoyance. Why did you put this url for me to follow if there's nothing here but a half started React tutorial from 3 years ago?
- ncallaway 8y ago
  Agree on this. If you don't have a useful GitHub portfolio that's fine. But anything on your resume or linked from your resume is fair game. If you haven't been able to meaningfully participate in open-source work there's no penalty, but don't link to an empty GitHub page on your resume.
- stefkors 8y ago
  So many places seem to require a github profile in their form.
  - eponeponepon 8y ago
    There is never anything wrong with writing "n/a" in any kind of form. There was a long overlap during which any form that took contact details already had fields for email address and mobile phone number, but before either of those were as ubiquitous as they are today; nobody processing those forms ever ignored one with "n/a" for email address. Granted, it might be less prudent to skip some fields than others, of course.
    - dep_b 8y ago
      "error: n/a is not a valid URL"
      - parthdesai 8y ago
        how about www.idonthaveaninterestinggithub.com
        vbezhenar 8y ago
JshWright 8y ago
While you don't actively penalize folks, it's worth pointing out that candidates with an active GitHub profile often _do_ have an advantage in the scenario you describe.
- xemdetia 8y ago
  Yes, I would agree that it helped but only based on the logic that a resume/cv is a document designed to advertise your accomplishments. If your accomplishments are best shown by your GitHub then include it, if it shows nothing don't! It's the same as advertising a volunteer group or something on a resume, a group with high participation and clear commitment to some purpose (if relevant to the job in question) is worth more than a random meetup group that met only once and when pressed the candidate clearly shows that it was invented for the resume. That's potentially 10 minutes or so the candidate could have talked about something else which is an actual strength.
- praneshp 8y ago
  Similar to how a much better developer has an advantage over me in an interview
- WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
  I like to think people who are further into their career and keeping up with development have a github with lots of stars... the github doesn't make the developer, the developer makes the github.
  - hhmc 8y ago
    Your statment is built upon the pernicious idea that all good developers should write code in their spare time.
    - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
      I said 'stars' meaning they at least follow the market trends.
drdaeman 8y ago
> So many people just do not have time for open source On the other hand, it's hard to imagine someone senior enough (in terms of experience, not years) who haven't ever hacked a FLOSS dependency to do something it originally didn't. Of course, it could be that the source wasn't on GitHub, or that author did effort to persuade upstream into accepting their changes and then repository was removed, or that the code is in the company's internal systems (which can be a good idea for various reasons). However, I'd say that most typical scenario is "you see it, you find it on GitHub, you fork it, patch it and leave it there - just in case". I have a bunch of those, and I'm just archiving those repos when I recognize they're not relevant anymore. It's not like I'm paying for those - and having an ancient fork had helped me once, when someone from my old place had a problem and asked me if I still remember how things worked there. I mean, many (most?) of software engineers are directly working with free software every day. And, sadly, world isn't that perfect this software provides everything one might need without any tinkering. :) So, in a certain sense, "no time for open source" is a little bit questionable. But, yeah, there are valid reasons why a good engineer may not even have GitHub account at all. Unless you're drowning in a torrent of great-looking resumes (and you're not GitHub Inc.), no harm in not making GH account a mandatory requirement.
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  > On the other hand, it's hard to imagine someone senior enough (in terms of experience, not years) who haven't ever hacked a FLOSS dependency to do something it originally didn't. No, I find that pretty easy to imagine.
- userbinator 8y ago
  I mean, many (most?) of software engineers are directly working with free software every day. I think there's many more working on proprietary software, we just naturally don't hear about it due to its nature. Open source is prominent only because it's public.
  - drdaeman 8y ago
    Yes, I meant that lots of proprietary software links with and relies on FLOSS components. E.g. I open Slack (a random pick - it's open on my desktop right now), a proprietary software app. And in the "about" section there's a huge list of FLOSS libraries they use: https://slack.com/libs/desktop https://slack.com/libs/desktop Moreover, I'd say, every website out there (and web is a giant niche) uses lots of FLOSS components. And for GitHub contributions, I meant that once in many years there happens to be a library that's out of date but otherwise useful, or lacks some nice feature.
jordan801 8y ago
I've been super concerned about my empty stackoverflow and github accounts. This is reassuring. Thanks for sharing!
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

PopeDotNinja 8y ago

+1 for this. I used to be a recruiter, and knew hiring managers looked at GitHub profiles. When I started, I used to to stress out over pushing crappy code to my GitHub account. At some point I realized that anyone judging me for stuff I put into GitHub was simply not someone I would ever want to please. My GitHub is mostly a graveyard for experiments, learning, and goofing off, and that is exactly what I want it to be :) If you have something really notable in your GitHub account, maybe it should probably be on your CV/resume, too!

_asummers 8y ago
I've started doing this -- my resume has an "Open Source and Public Speaking" section for putting in noteworthy GH accomplishments.
gumby 8y ago
I’m curious: why bother to use GH then? Why not simply have various repos in your filesystem? It feels to me like having a blog site and only putting notes, scraps and drafts in it. Maybe there’s some functionality i’m not seeing?
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  It's a good question, and I don't have a specific answer. I guess the short answer is because I want to. It's convenient for a number of reasons.
- Washuu 8y ago
  I push to Gitlab from home so that I can pull down to the computer in the shop. Fleshing out an idea is much more comfortable in the home than standing up in front of a an old computer.
wildpeaks 8y ago
You could keep experiments in private repos if you worry about showing crappy code.

travisjungroth 8y ago

I penalize people slightly for an empty GitHub if they put it on their resume, just out of annoyance. Why did you put this url for me to follow if there's nothing here but a half started React tutorial from 3 years ago?

ncallaway 8y ago
Agree on this. If you don't have a useful GitHub portfolio that's fine. But anything on your resume or linked from your resume is fair game. If you haven't been able to meaningfully participate in open-source work there's no penalty, but don't link to an empty GitHub page on your resume.
stefkors 8y ago
So many places seem to require a github profile in their form.
- eponeponepon 8y ago
  There is never anything wrong with writing "n/a" in any kind of form. There was a long overlap during which any form that took contact details already had fields for email address and mobile phone number, but before either of those were as ubiquitous as they are today; nobody processing those forms ever ignored one with "n/a" for email address. Granted, it might be less prudent to skip some fields than others, of course.
  - dep_b 8y ago
    "error: n/a is not a valid URL"
    - parthdesai 8y ago
      how about www.idonthaveaninterestinggithub.com
      - vbezhenar 8y ago

JshWright 8y ago

While you don't actively penalize folks, it's worth pointing out that candidates with an active GitHub profile often _do_ have an advantage in the scenario you describe.

xemdetia 8y ago
Yes, I would agree that it helped but only based on the logic that a resume/cv is a document designed to advertise your accomplishments. If your accomplishments are best shown by your GitHub then include it, if it shows nothing don't! It's the same as advertising a volunteer group or something on a resume, a group with high participation and clear commitment to some purpose (if relevant to the job in question) is worth more than a random meetup group that met only once and when pressed the candidate clearly shows that it was invented for the resume. That's potentially 10 minutes or so the candidate could have talked about something else which is an actual strength.
praneshp 8y ago
Similar to how a much better developer has an advantage over me in an interview
WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
I like to think people who are further into their career and keeping up with development have a github with lots of stars... the github doesn't make the developer, the developer makes the github.
- hhmc 8y ago
  Your statment is built upon the pernicious idea that all good developers should write code in their spare time.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
    I said 'stars' meaning they at least follow the market trends.

drdaeman 8y ago

> So many people just do not have time for open source On the other hand, it's hard to imagine someone senior enough (in terms of experience, not years) who haven't ever hacked a FLOSS dependency to do something it originally didn't. Of course, it could be that the source wasn't on GitHub, or that author did effort to persuade upstream into accepting their changes and then repository was removed, or that the code is in the company's internal systems (which can be a good idea for various reasons). However, I'd say that most typical scenario is "you see it, you find it on GitHub, you fork it, patch it and leave it there - just in case". I have a bunch of those, and I'm just archiving those repos when I recognize they're not relevant anymore. It's not like I'm paying for those - and having an ancient fork had helped me once, when someone from my old place had a problem and asked me if I still remember how things worked there. I mean, many (most?) of software engineers are directly working with free software every day. And, sadly, world isn't that perfect this software provides everything one might need without any tinkering. :) So, in a certain sense, "no time for open source" is a little bit questionable. But, yeah, there are valid reasons why a good engineer may not even have GitHub account at all. Unless you're drowning in a torrent of great-looking resumes (and you're not GitHub Inc.), no harm in not making GH account a mandatory requirement.

throwawaymath 8y ago
> On the other hand, it's hard to imagine someone senior enough (in terms of experience, not years) who haven't ever hacked a FLOSS dependency to do something it originally didn't. No, I find that pretty easy to imagine.
userbinator 8y ago
I mean, many (most?) of software engineers are directly working with free software every day. I think there's many more working on proprietary software, we just naturally don't hear about it due to its nature. Open source is prominent only because it's public.
- drdaeman 8y ago
  Yes, I meant that lots of proprietary software links with and relies on FLOSS components. E.g. I open Slack (a random pick - it's open on my desktop right now), a proprietary software app. And in the "about" section there's a huge list of FLOSS libraries they use: https://slack.com/libs/desktop https://slack.com/libs/desktop Moreover, I'd say, every website out there (and web is a giant niche) uses lots of FLOSS components. And for GitHub contributions, I meant that once in many years there happens to be a library that's out of date but otherwise useful, or lacks some nice feature.

jordan801 8y ago

I've been super concerned about my empty stackoverflow and github accounts. This is reassuring. Thanks for sharing!

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]