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Ask HN: Why doesn't HR take a look at your GitHub account?

15 points by spacko ↗ HN
My CV not just prominently states my GitHub account - the CV's PDF even features links to repos to back up statements about my competences. Nonetheless - nobody looks at it and then I get asked during the interview: "Have you done something with Python?". That's frustrating - and the larger the company the less informed HR seems to be in general - while at the same time asking the most "critical" questions.

13 comments

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MichaelCrawford
some recruiter was after me for six months to apply for a symantec c++ security perm job. finally i send him my resume.

im sorry i cant submit you theres no c++ experience here.

actually there is fourteen years. i spell it out quite clearly.

if interviewers would so much as lift a finger to read our resumes all the way through there would be no talent shortage.

guessbest
Maybe there is no talent shortage, but there is a distinct unicorn shortage.
frostmatthew
Thankfully this isn't the situation everywhere. I've been with VMware for about a year and a few months ago I made a comment/joke to my tech lead how I was extremely surprised (given my fairly nontraditional background) that I even got an interview...he then told me any application that includes a link to a github profile must get passed along (thus engineers on the relevant team are the ones that determine if the applicant should be interviewed or not).

[N.B. I have no clue if this is applicable for all of VMware of just my location]

praneshp
I'm almost certain this is specific to your team/location. Three years ago, when I was a grad student, I had a screening round on campus with VMWare, and rate it my worst experience ever. A HR person (who contracted with VMWare, acc to her LinkedIn) interviewed me with a pre-printed list of questions; among other things, she didn't understand the difference between the TCP/IP stack and the data structure called stack. To top it off, when I mentioned something about Citrix in my work history, she said she hadn't heard about the company, and said VMWare doesn't bother about "small companies".

I guess both of our stories are anectodal, but maybe my situation was because of an arrogant contractor, as opposed to an employee. It's really cool that VMWare actually looks at github profiles.

ocdtrekkie
I imagine in this case, some of the recruiters may only have a cursory understanding of the job requirements. Evaluators may know you need to mention Python, but not what a pull request is, or how to look at what you've contributed on GitHub. They may be asking the question to simply provide whatever answer you give to someone more qualified to evaluate it. (Also, even if they look at your GitHub, they may want to see how you answer in person. I've definitely been asked questions that were answered on my resume, but it's also sometimes a conversation starter to a deeper topic.)
atmosx
Reading all these posts, questions and comments related to interviews and interviewers, it looks like there's a lot of space for competent interviewers out there.
marssaxman
Why would HR look at your github account? They are just screening hundreds of resumes to find the ones worth interviewing; they don't have time to dig deep. It's up to the individual interviewers to look further if they feel motivated and have time, which they probably don't.

I think I can recall maybe once having seen someone list a github account on their resume. It definitely hasn't been common in my experience; certainly not enough so that people would be on the lookout for repository links.

theaccordance
Your expectations for HR professionals are set too high. Their job generally is more about screening candidates than it is conducting a SSBI for Top Secret security clearance.
snowwrestler
I doubt an HR person could evaluate a GitHub account for quality unless they are a developer themselves. In my experience, HR recruiters tend to look for keywords and quantities as part of their filtering process.

Are you asking about HR staff in particular, or do you also include hiring managers (who are presumably subject matter experts themselves)? Because I agree that hiring manager should at least look it over before the interview.

VOYD
why would you think that just because you are active on GitHub, that someone would be bothered to look at links on your CV? 99.9 of the world population aren't software development minded.
hobarrera
99.9 of the world population doesn't have to select the right candidate for a software development position either.

Those that do should have an idea about the job they're doing.

lscore720
You have expectations that HR cannot meet, unfortunately. As an outside recruiter, I try to eliminate all layers between the candidate and hiring manager (AKA the individual who will acknowledge and apprectiate your github work!). I'm sorry that's discouraging and frustrating, because it's unfair, but it will require more work on your part.
MalcolmDiggs
For the same reason that I ask the waiter questions which are clearly spelled out on the menu: I'm a dumbass... most people are. Don't take it personally.