GitHub is a code hosting platform that can be used to evaluate developers. It allows users to host repositories of code, contribute to projects through issues and pull requests, and showcase their skills. While GitHub does not directly help with recruiting, it provides insights into a candidate's technical abilities, activity level, and soft skills through their public profile and contributions. Key things to examine on a candidate's GitHub include their own projects, involvement in other projects, how they engage in issues, and the quality of their code repositories.

1. HOW TO USE GITHUB TO EVALUATE
DEVELOPERS

2. WHO AM I?
Timo Rößner
Berlin, Germany
Director of Engineering @ Blacklane
Part of the and core team
Both of which are hosted at github
Technical advisor for honeypot
Reek RubyCritic

3. SO...GITHUB?
Who knows github?
Who works with github on a regular base?

4. HOW TO COME ACROSS GITHUB PROFILES?
Link in a candidates CV
Link in a honeypot profile
Your CTO says "he looks really good on github!"
Friend-of-a-friend referrals
You google a developer

5. OK, SO WHAT'S GITHUB?

6. GITHUB IS A CODE HOSTING PLATFORM
Mostly known for open source software
Open source refers to something that can be modified and
shared publicly
Open source software is available for modification or
enhancement by anyone
Operating systems (Android)
Programming languages (Ruby, Swift)
User applications (Firefox)

7. GITHUB CAN ALSO HOST CLOSED-SOURCE
SOFTWARE

8. GITHUB'S BREAD AND BUTTER: USERS

9. USERS HAVE REPOSITORIES

10. REVEAL.JS HOSTED @ GITHUB

11. ISSUES
Users can discuss and contribute via issues
Think of issues as discussion items for
bugs
feedback
suggestions

12. REPORT BUGS

13. REQUEST A FEATURE

14. UPDATE CODE
Users can suggest changes via pull requests
Think of pull requests as technical term for change request
for
fixing bugs
adding new features
changing features

15. ADD A FEATURE

16. ADD A FEATURE (CONTINUED)

17. DEVELOPERS LOVE GITHUB BECAUSE...

18. GITHUB GIVES THEM INTERESTING
PROBLEMS

19. GITHUB MAKES IT EASY TO LEARN
AND TECHNOLOGIES
NEW
LANGUAGES

20. GITHUB GIVES THEM RECOGNITION FROM
THEIR PEERS (E.G. VIA STARS)

21. GITHUB LETS THEM CHIT CHAT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGY

22. SO HOW CAN I FIND DEVELOPERS USING
GITHUB?
Well...you can't
github is not a recruiting platform
It doesn't offer any recruiting-related search functionality
But you can use it to evaluate developers!

23. A GITHUB WORKFLOW
There is no rule book for this
Everybody, including me, has their own workflow

24. MEASURE A CANDIDATES ACTIVITY
On his own projects
But also on other people's projects
In theory activity does not relate to quality at all but
experience shows that in practice it often does

25. A SAMPLE PROFILE

26. CHECK HIS SOCIAL SKILLS VIA HIS PUBLIC
ACTIVITY

27. CHECK OUT HOW HE RESPONDS TO ISSUES

28. CHECK OUT HIS REPOSITORIES

29. BEWARE OF FORKS THOUGH

30. RECAP
Developers love github
github will not help you to find developers
But it can help you to evaluate them
All github can give you are hints and clues. There are no
golden rules

31. THANK YOU!
Questions?