Why GitHub is not your CV
blog.jcoglan.com
Why GitHub is not your CV
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Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#2"OSS as a hiring filter biases your selection process toward white men"... not sure what to say.
But I do find it funny that they don't think that Github should be used as a resumé but their "conferencing", tweets, books about diversifying and podcasts should do.
Talkers or Makers?
I write OSS on my free time because I feel like other alternatives might not be good enough. I spend a couple of hours in the morning, weekends and etc. It's hard and time consuming. I can take two days if just figuring out what the selector should be called or argument names.
Right now I am getting paid for OSS, but I even spend my free time on it because I'd like to make sure it comes out good.
It's very slow and time consuming, and sometimes keeps me up at night, but I LIKE IT. And I like acknowledgment to it.
These sorta articles invalidate what I make just because I FEEL like making them. Not sure what to feel about that.
I have friends who make stuff to Go-lang because they want to learn the language and make stuff that doesn't exist. These articles invalidates their passion.
And saying bullshit like LGBT or other genders are actively being excluded... well it makes me hard to take you seriously. I'm not white, and I am part of LGBT.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#3Ashe Dryden's original post has merit, I'm not contesting that. James' post however, is wrong on so many levels.
It's worth noting that James is a UK based developer. Most of his points may be completely valid in the US but they are completely at odds with the UK climate. I've worked with an inordinate amount of tech companies in the UK and consulted with many more and I've yet to come across any that hire based primarily on the merits of a candidates github repo.
In fact, I'd argue his understanding of the request for a candidates github URL is completely wrong. One of my first requests when speaking to a potential candidate is for their github/bitbucket profile so I can see some actual code examples. I know that it's rare to find a true indication of someones ability from just their github contributions but for example, it can help me discern whether a ruby candidate adheres to ruby best practices or not. A small example of a minor indicator that someone might be a good fit for our company.
A man with significantly more experience in the industry than me once put it better than I ever could:
The more information I can get, the easier it becomes for me to make a decision, and to feel comfortable in it. And the best sort of information to give me is to show me what you can make, whether that's code for a backend position, or interesting design/UI for a front end position. It also gives us another thing to talk about during interview; and more opportunity to ask about design decisions and rationale.
Some of the best people I've ever sourced didn't have any publicly accessible code but if they had, I would have found them a hell of a lot quicker.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#4"If you want to find out whether someone’s worth hiring as a software engineer, their code is of very limited value compared to talking to them, discussing design and architecture, previous engineering constraints they’ve faced, and what they’re like at solving problems"
I have a hard time thinking of a better way to see how good someone is at all of those those thing than to look at code they've written in the past.
Also, the title of the article is "Why GitHub is not your CV" yet all it talks about is how it can't replace an interview. Which I don't think many people advocate.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#5"OSS as a hiring filter biases your selection process toward white men"... not sure what to say. But I do find it funny that they don't think that Github should be used as a resumé but their "conferencing", tweets, books about diversifying and podcasts should do. Talkers or Makers? I write OSS on my free time because I feel like other alternatives might not be good enough. I spend a couple of hours in the morning, we…
> These sorta articles invalidate what I make just because I FEEL like making them. Not sure what to feel about that.
Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I've learned something... stop caring what others are saying and doing. If you feel like making shit, then make it.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#6"OSS as a hiring filter biases your selection process toward white men"... not sure what to say. But I do find it funny that they don't think that Github should be used as a resumé but their "conferencing", tweets, books about diversifying and podcasts should do. Talkers or Makers? I write OSS on my free time because I feel like other alternatives might not be good enough. I spend a couple of hours in the morning, we…
> These sorta articles invalidate what I make just because I FEEL like making them. Not sure what to feel about that. Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I've learned something... stop caring what others are saying and doing. If you feel like making shit, then make it.
I generally don't give a shit. But I do get concerned when others do to crap that might affect me.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#7Have two profiles - one for your projects portfolio, another - to contribute to OSS.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#8Ashe Dryden's original post has merit, I'm not contesting that. James' post however, is wrong on so many levels. It's worth noting that James is a UK based developer. Most of his points may be completely valid in the US but they are completely at odds with the UK climate. I've worked with an inordinate amount of tech companies in the UK and consulted with many more and I've yet to come across any that hire based prim…
I would have found them a hell of a lot quicker.
There are two ways to read this: (1) as a marker; (2) as a filter. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the interplay. My guess is that there is some game theory on signalling at play on both sides here.
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#9Unless you have your CV on github..
Re: Why GitHub is not your CV
#10Ashe Dryden's original post has merit, I'm not contesting that. James' post however, is wrong on so many levels. It's worth noting that James is a UK based developer. Most of his points may be completely valid in the US but they are completely at odds with the UK climate. I've worked with an inordinate amount of tech companies in the UK and consulted with many more and I've yet to come across any that hire based prim…
I would have found them a hell of a lot quicker. There are two ways to read this: (1) as a marker; (2) as a filter. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the interplay. My guess is that there is some game theory on signalling at play on both sides here.
It's genuinely very straightforward. If you don't have much of an online presence (github, twitter, blog, etc) then the only way I'm likely to find you is if a mutual contact tells me about you. Now, referrals are one of the best sources of excellent people and I'm not knocking that.
If you're constantly tweeting/blogging good quality content about an area of technology that is relevant to my business then of course I'm going to take notice. That, however, doesn't necessarily make you a better candidate by default, it just means you were easier to find.