It's common to find developers who highlight open-source contributions on their GitHub profiles, feature them on their resumes, and describe their experiences in cover letters and during interviews. When you come across an applicant who lists their contributions to open source projects in their resume and cover letter, it can raise some critical questions: How should you weigh these contributions vs. traditional job history? What can they show you?
Choosing not to contribute to open-source should never be disqualifying. Open-source contributions can indicate a diamond in the rough, but it depends. The role you're looking to fill and the kind of contributions they've made matter tremendously.
If you're hiring for an entry-level position, a significant contribution to a meaningful or popular open-source package or repo could be huge. Any open source contributions are meaningful when a developer doesn't have 'real world' experience to show you.
If you're hiring for Senior, Lead, or Architect roles, on the other hand, open-source contributions may be an excellent addition to their resume, but in most cases, they won't completely offset a relative lack of professional experience. The scale of their contribution and the scale of the project they're contributing to matters significantly. A minor fix on a relatively new open-source repo is undoubtedly a welcome contribution, but compared to, say, adding functionality to Laravel, you should evaluate it accordingly.
Practical Tips for Hiring Managers
- Evaluate the impact of contributions by project popularity or user benefit.
- Consider how open-source work complements job experience.
- Assess personality traits, motivations, and problem-solving abilities demonstrated through contributions.
- Review communication and writing skills through PR documentation and interactions.
- Look for resilience demonstrated by overcoming initial rejections.
- Assess coding proficiency through accepted PRs in significant projects.
If you're evaluating a candidate early in their developer career, open-source contributions can provide valuable insights into a candidate's skills, personality traits, and potential fit within your team. For more senior roles, weighing these contributions alongside their professional experience, education, and overall work history is essential. Integrating these insights into your hiring process allows you to make more informed decisions and uncover talent you might otherwise overlook.