Did you know you can use GitHub as an online portfolio? Use this platform to gather your best work and attract recruiters’ attention!
Whether we’re looking for a new job or simply trying to showcase our work online, sometimes it’s hard to find the best way to do it.
We can show the end product through a video or image to someone… but as Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux operating system, says:
– “Talk is cheap. Show me the code”.
We have good news: GitHub is here to save you!
But first, we need to separate two important concepts. Git and GitHub are different things.
What is Git?
Git is a code versioning tool. Using it, you can maintain multiple versions of your project as you develop new features.
This is familiar… right?
You’re working on a project or document, and you’re manually creating various versions until you, and eventually your team, are finally satisfied with the result.
By using Git for versioning, the days of endless files and folders with names like “SuperFinalProject27” are over!
Advantages of using Git in a project
- Versioning
Each change is saved as a version available for use at any time.
- Project evolution history and transparency
Each change, usually called commits, is recorded with an author, the date and time it was made, and also exactly which files and lines were changed, added, or deleted.
- Branch creation
For each change, or when it makes sense for you and others involved in the project, you can create a new branch. Branches are like a parallel reality of your project, where you can make changes without affecting the original version. When you finish what you wanted to do, you can merge your changes into the original version without it becoming dysfunctional, or unavailable, for those who wanted to use it while you were making changes!
- Team collaboration
You can change the project code without affecting other developers, using branches. Code added to the original version of the project can be reviewed by different people before being included.
After all, four eyes are better than just two, right?
- A functional version of the project always available
By using branches, you never directly touch the original version, which allows you to have your project always ready to be tested without the risk of making irreversible changes!
So what about GitHub?
Just like BitBucket, GitLab, Azure DevOps, and others, GitHub is a platform that uses Git and stores projects developed by programmers around the world.
It is one of the most famous platforms for doing so because it is free to use.
On GitHub, you’ll find many open-source projects (where the source code is public and open to contributions from developers outside the organization) that you can also participate in.
An example of this type of project is Visual Studio Code, the favourite text editor of many programmers!
You can find all the source code for VS Code at this link.
You too can include your projects, manage them as you develop, and show anyone the entire process and source code!
Even better, you can have your own profile where you gather all your projects, have a description of yourself as a programmer, and show what you’ve been working on.
Pin your best projects
You can highlight those projects you’re most proud of and deserve to be seen by visitors to your profile.
So, instead of having to search through all your projects to see which ones stand out, a recruiter quickly finds what they’re looking for: your best work!
Show your dedication to development
You can display a calendar showing the number of contributions you’ve made to your projects, others’ projects, or team projects, in the past year.
By clicking on “Contribution settings” in the top right corner of the image below, you can also choose to show the “Activity overview” to display which repositories you’ve contributed to and what kind of contributions you’ve made.
Your contributions can range from code changes, to reviewing other programmers’ code, or even identifying issues in a project.
As you can see, in my case, I only made commits.
Personal repository
You can create a repository that will serve as a bio for your profile. In it, you can include a description of who you are, what you like to do, and the technologies you like to work with.
To do this, you just have to create a repository with the same name as your GitHub profile name.
For example, my name on GitHub is PMLF, so I created a repository named PMLF and the platform already knows this repository is special. It’s my bio and it’s meant to be displayed on my profile page.
The content will be just a file called README.md. In it, you should write in Markdown and/or HTML.
Put your website online for free with GitHub Pages
GitHub gives you the possibility to create your own website for free! Again, you need to create a public repository with a specific name.
The name should be <name>.github.io, where <name> is your profile name, just like in the previous example.
From there, you clone the repository and develop your website. The index.html document you include in the parent folder of the repository will appear online at the url <name>.github.io, where “<name>” refers to the name you assigned to the repository.
So, you can showcase your capabilities as a web developer with a real example that is open to anyone visiting your page!
You can create a portfolio website where you showcase those projects that challenged you and talk about your programming experiences.
…or you can simply use it to launch a website with scientific evidence that pineapple deserves to be on pizza whenever it wants, to finally end that extremely important debate!
Interact with the community
Whether contributing to open-source, searching for projects that interest you, or asking other programmers about certain technologies they use, you’re increasing your knowledge and experience.
The contributions, follows, and stars you give and receive on projects are all visible to the community and show how much you’ve evolved, leaving your mark on other developers’ code.
Don’t stress!
We’ve talked about a lot of things you can do to impress recruiters, but you don’t necessarily need to complete all these steps to have a quality profile.
What you do need is to take the first step and create a profile on GitHub!
After some time invested, all you’ll need is the opportunity to showcase your work to a recruiter.
…and finally get hired for your dream job!
As for that, the recruitment team at KWAN can lend a hand.
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See you in the next article!
