DEV Community

Donita
Donita

Posted on

How do you make your portfolio/GitHub profile standout?

How did you make your portfolio and Github profile to standout to get an interview? Do you have any tips? Please share!

Oldest comments (18)

Collapse
 
tux0r profile image
tux0r

I try to write good software and offer it there. I don't need a job as a portfolio designer. :)

Collapse
 
vonheikemen profile image
Heiker • Edited

While having a good portafolio or Github profile doesn't hurt, what I've seen is that is not as important as some people make you believe. In many cases github profiles are basically graveyards for unfinished projects.

If you have projects that you can call your own (not including code from tutorials) then you are in a good path.

You can find more useful tips in here:

Collapse
 
stargator profile image
Stargator

Additionally, before they get to your github profile or portofolio, you may need to review your resume and see where you can improve.

Collapse
 
donita profile image
Donita

I did, it got a review by a career counselor lol. But let me look at this article to see if I can make any chances.

Collapse
 
david_j_eddy profile image
David J Eddy

Ali is amazing for sure.

Collapse
 
ben profile image
Ben Halpern

One thing I can definitely say: You're building a great DEV profile already!

Collapse
 
donita profile image
Donita

Thank you Ben!

Collapse
 
dandv profile image
Dan Dascalescu

You can hack your contributions calendar to spell out any pixel-art you want. Like, "Hi, recruiter!"

GitHub timeline hack

github.com/IonicaBizau/github-cont...

Collapse
 
donita profile image
Donita

I didn't even know I could do this! that's cool!

Collapse
 
madza profile image
Madza

How about creating one without hax?
Just code in days that would create that pattern in map :))

Collapse
 
dandv profile image
Dan Dascalescu

That would take a lot of weeks off, instead of CONTRIBUTING!!!

Collapse
 
whoisryosuke profile image
Ryosuke

The most distilled way to improve a Github profile:

  • Contributions to big or relevant projects
  • Frequent/regular contributions that reflect on the contribution graph
  • Great personal projects
  • Flex your git skills in your projects (recruiters can and will check your commit history to see how you handle projects)
  • Make sure to take advantage of Github's features like "pinned repositories" to curate the repos your profile shows initially.

General tips:

You can make yourself stand out in any situation by doing something divergent. If you're marching in the same direction as everyone else, people aren't going to care about where you're going. It doesn't mean make your workflow so different and weird no one wants to work with you, but feel free to experiment and push the boundaries of inherent limitations.

Identify problems, create solutions. If you create something that solves an existing problem that developers or designers have, you'll get plenty of great promotion in the community. Creators are always looking for the latest and greatest tools, if you can contribute to that pool, you'll get way more attention that "yet another XYZ library".

Be clear about who you are and what you do. This one seems a given, but it's probably the #1 reason you get passed over by recruiters. What do you do, and does your portfolio/resume speak to that? If someone without any experience with your work looked at your site, could they quickly and easily discern your skillset? Imagine you're a recruiter going through 50 portfolios in a sitting and look at your portfolio or resume critically. Could they tell you do ReactJS in 10 seconds or less? What first impression will they be left with?

Document your work. Pretty design or elegant code is fantastic, but a final product doesn't paint the picture of your process. How did you arrive to your destination, and what mountains did you have to climb? Case studies, documentation, etc -- all help 3rd parties view your work and understand the actual scope of it all. Did you design the entire SPA app yourself or just a component?

Collapse
 
donita profile image
Donita

Thank you so much for such a detailed explanation! I am going to keep all of this in mind!

Collapse
 
ignoreintuition profile image
Brian Greig

Make sure the projects that you are highlighting on your github page have a comprehensive and well-thought-out readme page.

Collapse
 
donita profile image
Donita

Thank you! I am going to go over my readme pages again!

Collapse
 
drminnaar profile image
Douglas Minnaar

For me it's ALWAYS about adding value. Don't build anything, including a Github portfolio, simply to get more interviews. Build something that will benefit the community (including yourself). If you build it, and you build it well, "they" will come.

Collapse
 
david_j_eddy profile image
David J Eddy

IMO: Dont. Some of the best devs and biggest projects do not use GitHub. Some very impressive projects do not open there code. Some very good devs do not do open source.

Lean on your unique experience, the value you can bring to the organization, and the combination of skill sets you posses. Demo completed and working projects, show off some writing, share presentations or contributions to your community of choice.

If a organization will not hire you because you do not have an impressive GH profile, run away- fast.

Collapse
 
geshan profile image
Geshan Manandhar

A simple way would be to contribute to influential open source projects.