GitHub Portfolios Do Not Work
Photo by Yes and Studio on Unsplash
GitHub profiles can be used as snapshots of a developer's work, providing potential employers an insight into the quality of any given candidate.
This sounds like a great idea where developers can signal their skills to anyone who looks. I’m here to tell you that the tech world’s peacock’s tail is a failure and is doing more harm than good.
The GitHub Showcase
A GitHub profile is a polished, carefully selected window into a developer’s work. They are a polished and often exaggerated highlight reel that glosses over the real problems and issues that are relevant in a professional context.
Behind the glossy repository, there is a collection of failed projects and half-baked ideas that are hidden from view.
Coding should be an experimental and exciting path to solving problems. The dead ends can tell us more than a “perfect” project could ever give you.
A neat and tidy GitHub profile is simply a meticulously crafted facade.
The GitHub Obsession
Developers have little other choice than to work on a profile. This can be because recruiters request a link to a GitHub profile, so it becomes an extension of your resume.
Not all developers have the luxury of contributing to open-source projects or polishing personal repositories. Many are tied up with proprietary work, juggling deadlines, or, heaven forbid, balancing a life outside of coding. This narrow lens on a developer’s worth is not just unfair; it’s counterproductive, sidelining potentially brilliant hires who don’t fit the GitHub-centric mold.
That doesn’t matter to a busy recruiter. Either you have a profile with 500+ stars or you don’t. They simply think “Can I tick the box?” and if you don’t measure up there isn’t a job opportunity for you.
Distorting the Hiring Process
As developers have become (rightly) obsessed with the GitHub profile the hiring process has become skewed towards such easy measures of competency.
Crafting that perfect GitHub persona isn’t just a matter of pushing code. It’s a full-blown marketing campaign, complete with strategic planning on what projects to highlight, how to word those commit messages, and even which issues to comment on. This isn’t development work; it’s brand management. Time that could be spent solving problems, learning new skills, or collaborating with teammates is instead diverted to curating an image that appeals to recruiters and hiring managers.
This time could be spent learning a new language. It could be invested in interesting projects at (or out of) work. But since it’s used as a pass/fail filter for jobs developers need to make sure their profile is there just as they need to be able to answer quiz questions about their chosen language from recruiters.
We champion the quick fix, the flashy tool, and the superficial metric, often at the expense of deeper values like teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability.
The real issue
In the grand scheme of things, the emphasis on GitHub profiles is a symptom of a larger issue in tech: the relentless pursuit of the shiny over the substantial. It’s high time we recalibrate our priorities, looking beyond the superficial to the qualities that truly make a developer great.
But that will need an interview process that supports candidates. One that could identify the best candidates. One like the interview process crafted by The Secret Developer in this blog post.
Conclusion
While GitHub profiles can offer a glimpse into a developer’s world, they’re far from the comprehensive talent barometer they’re often made out to be. It’s time we looked beyond the surface, valuing the messy, complex, and often unseen work that truly drives innovation forward. Let’s not waste any more time on digital facades. After all, in the end, it’s the code that matters, not the profile it’s pushed to.