Github is my resume

I remember the first time I heard that statement - a couple years back Eric Florenzano said it to me on Twitter when I posted my resume publicly and asked for opinions. At the time I laughed at his statement, because it felt like naive arrogance to ditch the idea of a resume and 'traditional' social networking like Facebook and LinkedIn. How wrong I was...

Before I go any further, this isn't to say that education, job history, and references aren't important in getting jobs that utilize a lot of Python. They are important, but I think they go more towards shaping you as a person than getting a job. So if you want access to Python jobs (and possibly other open source languages), you need to be able to show working code. Why is this the case? I can thing of several reasons:

1. It is much harder to forge your style of code, comments, tests, and docs in a repo than it is to make false claims on a resume.
2. Development team managers don't take LinkedIn references seriously because how often we see them gamed.
3. Code gives us a body of work employers (including me) can use in order to help evaluate your skill and ability levels.

Let's summarize that into a bold statement:

Python employers want to review your code in a public repo.

That puts the pressure on you doesn't it? Now you've got to show working code. One extremely unethical way to do that is to copy/paste other people's code into your own repo and claim it as your own. The problem with that is real reviewers know good code doesn't just magically appear in gigantic chunks. Which I'll sum up with another statement:

Python employers are smart enough to read your commit log.

So as a beginner, what can you do? A lot of shops will want to see your code but if you put up your early code, doesn't that mean they'll see your ugly, mistake-ridden work? Yes they will - but if you keep at it with tutorial examples you are working, whatever pet project you cook up, or even submitting patches to various existing projects, they'll see how your code improves. I am much more inclined to hire a person able/willing to learn than a jaded expert who doesn't want to grow - which is why I always try to think like an eternal beginner. Which brings me to my third statement:

Python employers are willing to hire bright, hungry developers willing to learn.

Getting away from employment, let's talk a little about the Python development community. This community is a meritocracy with amazing foresight. Passion for code and/or natural talent is often recognized before skill is achieved - but only if you show the community you are learning. Get your code onto Github, or BitBucket, or SourceForge so it is seen, and keep at it! Try to commit every day and if that isn't possible, then once a week!

Because if you write code every day or every week, over time your code will get better, you'll also be able to demonstrate a consistent body of work, and your passion for software development will be obvious. Also, try to comment your code as much as possible.

One good trick is to put your ongoing notes in a repo. I do it myself at https://github.com/pydanny/pydanny-event-notes. My early notes are very, very different from my later notes. Often embarrassingly so, but to a Python employer I'm pretty certain they are a useful reference into just how I think.

Github, not LinkedIn

LinkedIn (and Facebook, Google Plus, et al) are a place to define your profile and nothing more. That profile should include a link to your code. Python employers will be looking your for links to your code, not for any sort of networking you do on those sites. Employers get annoyed by 'developers' who excessively network but have no links to code samples on Github or other similar sites. If you have no code to find then it means we can't see your work, your thought processes, or your passion.

One common technique you see by a lot of Python developers is posting quick links to their projects and efforts on Github using various social networks. You can and should do the same.

You make connections by showing you want to learn