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While I agree that having a github is great for a number of reasons, I do not think it's a Resume/CV "replacement" when looking for "any" software job. > A cv
by Donito 15y ago
While I agree that having a github is great for a number of reasons, I do not think it's a Resume/CV "replacement" when looking for "any" software job.
> A cv is useless for conveying who you are and what value you bring relative to all the other thousands of people out there. A paper is a paper is a paper.
True. Therefore if you're looking at integrating a Startup, it is great because educated developers might have the time to meticulously review every application. But when you're looking for a job, any job, especially in a more established company it doesn't work the same way.
Of course, if your github projects are "famous", say you created Redis (the 1% case), then it can act as a CV replacement. A replacement NOT because someone will dig into the actual code, but rather because they'll know you created this known thing called Redis (or they'll read about it on Wikipedia and realize it's a big deal)... so it's in a way your CV. But if your github only has random projects (which is the 99% case), it's actually quite hard and time consuming to jump into the code to evaluate an applicant's skill.
To better explain my point that a resume/CV actually makes the difference, let's look at it the other way around. Imagine you are a recruiter, you have 100 applicants, and you need to filter the list because you can't interview all 100 of them. Are you going to look into at everyone's repo?! No. Instead you will give a quick look at the CV to identify 'potentially' good candidates. Having a link to your github on the CV is a big plus at this point (independently of what it has), because it's different from most of the other ones (aka: you're special, more passionate about technology). Once the filtering is done, only then will you usually have the occasion to be heard through an interview. And it's at this point that you actually need to show you're real value.
Now I do agree that this system is flawed, but it's the game. If you want to maximize your chances, which you most likely do considering you have no options, you should play the game and get a solid cv/resume. Having said that, if you lack experience or content for your CV, personal projects (on github) are a good filler ;)
- apsurd 15y agoGood points all around. To respond to your main points: "When looking for a job, any job..." Ideally we should find the job that we are most motivated to do our best work at. It's a win for both parties. So I would try to avoid "finding any job" if it all possible. Granted it's easier said than done but that's the whole point. You want a place that you can grow at and that you don't dread going to work everyday. I think that's super important for a healthy life. So we should definitely aspire to be picky where we do our work. Also specifically to the current tech industry ; we can be picky. There is a ton of money in a ton of different kinds of companies in tech right now. Take advantage of it. Secondly, regarding the concept of having a GitHub profile. I agree, the simple fact of a GitHub profile existing is pretty meaningless. I do agree that most profiles have bash profiles, incomplete projects, and a ton of forks. Yup that is meaningless. I should state that when we talk about "having a GitHub profile" I necessarily mean having completed projects that you've created, from start to finish, and that actually run in the wild. A GitHub profile is simply the most relevant way to show of these kinds of projects. Sure you can link to the website your code runs on but I'd argue it's still better that you also Open Source the code so everyone can see your design decisions. You're right in that people aren't going to take the time to dig through your code, but what if the readme listed major stack components, and majore design decisions? Isn't that better than linking to a consumer-facing splashpage? The key here as with anything, is that you market it correctly. A GitHub profile can be used to more effectively market skills and knowledge that a tech employer would be interested in. I still contend that its actually better to not use a resume to get a job. This forces you to find some other way to make an impression with the company you are interested in. Granted you need to zone in on companies you are interested in and you can't apply the "shotgun" approach like you can with a resume .... but isn't that the point!?