· 2 min read · GitHub / career / side projects
The key to a green GitHub contribution grid
Why your GitHub profile matters when applying for developer jobs, and the boring secret to a green contribution grid: a side project and consistency.
Your GitHub profile has a big impact on whether you get hired. From my experience, if you want to be hired as a developer at a tech company, you need to take care of three things: real-world projects, knowledge of both frontend and backend, and a good GitHub profile.
Why the grid matters
On your GitHub profile there's a calendar-like grid showing how often you contribute to your own projects or other people's. It shows that you code regularly, that you're eager to improve and learn. Your projects matter too: the more interesting and unique, the better.
Now that we know why a green grid (as I like to call it) matters, let's talk about how to get one. First, understand that GitHub doesn't care how much code you contribute. It counts how often, not how good. That doesn't mean you should exploit it by committing meaningless code.
Be consistent
Pick a side project that actually benefits you, as a developer, a freelancer or a student. Add something to it every day, bit by bit, and eventually you'll finish it.
For example, Rafeeq is a platform I'm still building in my free time. It isn't ready yet, but I work on it whenever I get the chance. I don't write every feature in one sitting. I add the most important fix or feature, then the next one if I feel like it. What matters is that I spent time improving my code.
Quality still matters
Quantity doesn't count if the quality is bad. Work on meaningful projects and avoid vibe-coding when you can. The point of a side project isn't to monetize it ASAP. It's to learn the development process and the technical details through practice, which is why I don't vibe-code my projects. That's a topic for another post.
In summary: the key to a green grid is working on a project every day and pushing your code to GitHub. It doesn't matter how much you wrote. What matters is that you spent time improving as a developer and wrote meaningful code that moved your project forward (hopefully). And stop procrastinating.
— Omar. Questions or corrections? Tell me.