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Comment by mafro | Hacker News Reader

If I'm hiring, I want to see some code. I will need time to browse and read a candidate's code - which is where Github comes in. Also GH gives us their comments, pull requests & community interactions, which as others have said is invaluable.

Github, Bitbucket, Google code, Sourceforge (even Stackoverflow!) - it doesn't really matter where. It just needs to be public.

The OP's comments about Stallman and "Free software fanatics" are way off the mark; technical hiring staff just want to see your code. Fizz Buzz be damned! The code cannot lie!

And if your precious projects are too secret and awesome to be seen, then I very much doubt I'll hire :)

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This is basically what I wanted to write.

In addition, I'm not a huge fan of linkedin either. There are no guarantees to it. One is that most of what's on there is hard to check and linkedin endorsements are just unreal to start with.

I know people who just endorse each other for random things. I have endorsements from people who I have never worked with for technologies I have never worked with.

So in the end — Github or similar wins. Allows me to see their code (and contributions), and that's what matters. For the rest (compatibility on a social level), there are interviews and probation.

Created a second account because HN says I was submitting too fast (no wonder there are no interesting AMAs on here).

I am all for a generic "Link to your code" field on a job application form but also provide an alternative like "Is your code not public? Send us an invite to your repository or send us a zip of some work that you are proud of". I am okay with that, I did this for a job application that required a Codility test which I didn't do. I am not saying that I am unwilling to give you my code, but for the sake of a job application it does not have to be open to the world. I agree that Github still has benefits for recruiters but they should not become blinded by it thinking it is the only platform where developers can showcase their code.

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