Tip 1 – Use GitHub
SK: So the first tip that I would give in terms of staying ahead and being able to prove that you’re doing that is using your GitHub. It is something that clients more and more, and hiring managers, want to see on a CV. It’s a great way of being able to show your style, it’s a great way of being able to show projects that you’re working on outside of work. You could be a backend engineer, you could be a Java Developer but in your GitHub, you’re showing that you’re using React quite a lot, it could be an online course that you’ve done. You’re showing this is what I know, this is what I’ve learned and this is how I use it. So it’s a really great way of staying up to date. You can obviously follow other people. There are so many other ways that you can use GitHub and I think it’s a fantastic channel. It’s really great for software engineering, it’s great for developers and it’s really fantastic to show what you’re passionate about, what you can do and your style. So that would be my number one.
It’s essential that you have it on your CV. It’s also essential that you’re staying up to date, that you’ve got up to date projects there for hiring managers and clients, especially if you’re planning on making a move over the next six months, that you have projects there. You’re showing that you’re staying up to date, you’re showing that this is what I’m doing, this is what I can do. It may not be something that I’m using commercially but it’s something that I’m doing on the side. A lot of companies in interview processes that I’m finding especially with remote interviewing, it is a tool that’s being used within an interview process now for hiring managers to be able to look at the GitHub before the interview. Sometimes even during the interview, they’ll ask for that and they’ll jump on straight away and they’ll be able to see what have you done, “oh you’re using this tool or this language” or “I didn’t see that you’re using that in your current role, why are you using it?” It opens up a fantastic conversation. It’s a great way for you to be able to sell yourself and show that you’re passionate and that you want to explore new technologies and that you’re passionate about continuous learning. So that would be my number one tip.