GitHub and LinkedIn¶

~10 min

In short¶

Interviewers and recruiters often open your GitHub and LinkedIn after reading your resume. They look for three things: whether your projects run, whether the README explains them, and whether your profile matches what you wrote. Aim for accurate and easy to follow, not polished and vague.

GitHub: README checklist¶

Copy this into every project you want someone to read:

[ ] A title and a one-line description of what the project does
[ ] Requirements (language version, database, any tools) listed
[ ] Exact install and run commands, tested by copy-paste in a clean folder
[ ] The command that runs the tests
[ ] Example usage, such as sample requests or a sample run with its output
[ ] A short project structure: what lives where
[ ] Three to five design notes: key decisions and their trade-offs
[ ] A "Limits and next steps" list that is honest
[ ] A license file if you want others to reuse the code
[ ] No secrets committed; .env in .gitignore, and an example env file in its place

Repository hygiene¶

Pin three or four of your best repositories on your profile, not all of them.
Write commit messages that say what changed, such as "Add expiry check to ticket lookup". Avoid "final", "fix" and "update" on their own.
Archive abandoned copies, or label them clearly, for example "practice, from course X".
Before you make a repo public, search its history for passwords and keys. Deleting a file does not remove it from older commits. If a key was ever committed, revoke it and create a new one.
Keep tutorial code clearly separate from your own work.

LinkedIn: basics¶

[ ] Headline: your current status or goal, plus two or three skills, such as "Computer science student | Python, SQL | building backend projects"
[ ] Photo: clear and recent, if you choose to add one
[ ] About section: three or four sentences with the same facts as your resume
[ ] Featured section: link your best GitHub repository
[ ] Education and experience: names, titles and dates match your resume exactly
[ ] Skills: list only the ones you can back up in a project
[ ] Contact details: set the visibility you want
[ ] Job-seeking setting: LinkedIn has an optional setting that signals you are looking. Decide who can see it before you turn it on.
[ ] Connection requests: when you send one, add a short note saying why you are connecting

Keep the three in step¶

Use the same name spelling, the same dates, the same project titles and the same tool names across your resume, GitHub and LinkedIn. Small mismatches are easy to spot and raise questions you do not want to answer.

Honest limits¶

A tidy profile does not replace working code or a clear explanation. Treat these pages as the place a reader checks what you said, not as a way to look bigger than your work. LinkedIn settings and layouts change over time, so check the current menu names on the site rather than relying on this page for exact labels.

Try this¶

Open your GitHub profile in a private window. Choose your best repository, clone it into a new empty folder, and follow only the README. Fix the first step that fails. Then make sure the matching project on your LinkedIn featured section links to the same repository.