For employment sake, should you "IRL" Github?

[Coldblackice]

For those with some kind of programming job, in regards to employers and applying for jobs, how public or privately identifiable is your Github account? Do you have more than one account, like a private/anonymous one and a publicly identifiable one? How common is it that potential employers want to look over an applicant's online programming accounts (and histories)?

And what about your online account histories -- if your primary online presence is tied to a username that was used since high school, would it be best to start a fresh presence (like Github + Facebook) purely for future employers' sake?

I'm not particularly worried about mine, I'm just a bit wary about providing a digital life history to employers that spans so many years of life -- however -- I'm also wondering if employers would raise an eyebrow if an applicant's online presence seems pretty "fresh".

 

[Thuleman]

I think what you will find is that it depends on who the employer is. "Hip" startups that use OSS *may* be impressed by your Github account. Proper corporate employers are unlikely to see Github as an asset because you monkeying with OSS means that you will possibly use the employer's time to do so and the risk of that happening isn't worth it when there are applicants who are just as qualified as you are but don't engage in OSS projects.

There isn't a single circumstance under which I could consider a Facebook account as an asset for employment sake. FB means you are a narcissist who will spend all his time on FB rather than working. Again, this is for corporate employment. There are likely many SMB or GOV employers who don't give a shit one way or another.

 

[mikeblas]

FB means you are a narcissist who will spend all his time on FB rather than working.

LOL

 

[devman]

We had a summer intern that listed a GitHub account on his CV, I did look it over and was impressed. I also asked him questions about it to make sure it was actually his work. I don't make final hiring decisions but I gave that applicant a recommendation based in part on that interaction.

Personally I do StackOverflow, GitHub, BitBucket etc all with my real name and I'm usually a private person when it comes to online. I don't mind the work being associated with me, and it just might make the difference if you have a 'work portfolio' and another applicant does not. It may not land you a job, but it may get you in the door.

 

[jimmyb]

I think what you will find is that it depends on who the employer is. "Hip" startups that use OSS *may* be impressed by your Github account. Proper corporate employers are unlikely to see Github as an asset because you monkeying with OSS means that you will possibly use the employer's time to do so and the risk of that happening isn't worth it when there are applicants who are just as qualified as you are but don't engage in OSS projects.

I am not a software engineer, but what you've said seems crazy and probably untrue.

 

[ssnyder28]

I am not a software engineer, but what you've said seems crazy and probably untrue.

I am not a software engineer either (I'm in finance) but I have seen practices by HR departments when I had to step in and take over an HR department for a while and its pretty amazing what certain companies track and flag. I wouldn't necessarily dismiss what he wrote.

 

[pxc]

There isn't a single circumstance under which I could consider a Facebook account as an asset for employment sake. FB means you are a narcissist who will spend all his time on FB rather than working.

Not sure if true since many, many people have FB accounts, likely including people in HR and management.

But going from that, for humor's sake, they may see a tumblr account as a sign of brain death.

 

[aL Mac]

First of all, not everyone has a Github account. For some reason it seemed you assumed that all programmers have a Github with some sort of public project on it.

I think if you listed a particularly interesting project on your resume and also had the github link with it, it could attract a potential employer to look over your work. If your work is good, I can't imagine it hurting you. If your code is poorly designed, then I'd imagine it would hurt you.

However, I am not sure very many employers would end up looking it over.

 

[sharknice]

Put the maximum privacy restrictions on your facebook if you don't want potential employers looking at it.

If you have a github account with some good contributions you can put it on your resume, but I doubt any employers would go searching for your secret github account.