Ask HN: GitHub Accounts and Professional Careers

I recently applied for a job and was accepted. I'm supposed to update the company's website from Python 2 to Python3 and maintain it after that. I was talking to my new boss and he said that I was "mostly chosen" because of my "outstanding GitHub profile". I don't have a problem with this, I willingly filled out a form with a link to my GitHub profile when I applied. But what makes an "outstanding GitHub profile"? I have 500 or so followers. My projects are mostly libraries, in either Python or Javascript. The most popular ones have a few hundred stars. One has over 1000. Is this really the industry standard? Do employers really just say "they have a good GitHub presence, hire them"? I know I could script the stars and followings if I wanted, just give me my morning coffee and 24 hours and you'll have yourself a well paying software position ;)