Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Use GitHub as a Portfolio
Transcript
- Lucas: So you've just graduated from a bootcamp. You've got a dozen projects under your belt, a certificate, and maybe even a few stars on GitHub. But here's the gap — how do you prove to a hiring manager that you can actually work on a real codebase, with other people, meeting deadlines? Luna: That's exactly the wall I've seen bootcamp grads hit. They have these polished solo projects from their final sprint, but the interviewer asks, 'Tell me about a time you contributed to a team's codebase,' and suddenly it's crickets. Lucas: Right. And that's where your GitHub profile can become your most powerful asset — if you use it right. According to a 2025 Stack Overflow survey, about 63 percent of hiring managers said they look at a candidate's GitHub or similar public profile before making a hiring decision. That's not just a checkbox, it's a pre-screen. Luna: But a lot of bootcamp grads tell me, 'My GitHub is just my bootcamp projects. Won't that look like everyone else?' And honestly, it might. Lucas: Exactly. The ones who stand out are the ones who treat GitHub like a living portfolio — not a dump of assignments. They show consistent activity, collaboration, and a willingness to contribute to existing projects. One concrete example: a grad I know, let's call her Priya, finished a full-stack bootcamp last year. She spent three months contributing small fixes to a popular React component library — things like updating documentation, fixing typos in comments, and eventually adding a minor feature for accessibility. She did about twenty pull requests total, most of them merged. Luna: And that got her the job? Lucas: It got her noticed. During an interview with a fintech startup, the interviewer pulled up her GitHub and saw those pull requests with maintainers reviewing her code, asking for changes, approving. That's real-world code review. They could see she could take feedback and iterate. She got an offer. Luna: Okay, so it's not about building the next big app. It's about showing you can play well with others. Lucas: Exactly. And the barrier to entry is lower than you think. Many open-source projects label issues as 'good first issue' or 'help wanted' — specifically for newcomers. You don't need to be a senior engineer. Start with documentation: fix a broken link, clarify a confusing line. That alone shows attention to detail and initiative. Luna: So pick a project you actually use, like a library or framework you learned in bootcamp. Lucas: Yes. If you used Python Flask, look at the Flask documentation repo. If you used React, check out the React repo's issues. The key is to make small, consistent contributions over time. Even one commit a week compounds. Hiring managers value a commit history that spans months more than a single big project that's been dormant. Luna: What about forking and just adding a feature to someone else's repo? Does that count? Lucas: It does, but you have to follow the project's contribution guidelines. Just forking and dumping code without a pull request is like leaving a note on a colleague's desk but never sending the email. The magic is in the pull request — the conversation, the iteration. That's what simulates a real dev team experience. Luna: And I imagine that also helps with the 'experience' part of the resume. You can honestly say you contributed to a widely used open-source project. Lucas: Absolutely. Put it on your resume under 'Open Source Contributions' with links. It's verifiable. And it says more than a personal project because it has external validation. Other people reviewed your code and found it acceptable to merge. Luna: One thing I've wondered: what if a bootcamp grad doesn't have a strong coding background? Some are coming from non-tech fields. Does that make it harder to contribute to open source? Lucas: A bit, but not impossible. Start with projects that have good documentation and a welcoming community. First Timers Only is a website that aggregates beginner-friendly issues. Also, some projects like 'firstcontributions' on GitHub are literally tutorials for making your first pull request. The learning curve is real, but the payoff is huge because you're building a public record of growth. Luna: So it's not just about the code — it's about the story your activity tells. A series of small, incremental improvements can show dedication. Lucas: Exactly. And that's something we really value on this show — keeping it ad-free so we can focus on practical advice like this. If you find these episodes helpful, you can support the show by buying me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep the conversation going without commercial interruptions. Luna: Yeah, it's that simple. And we really appreciate it because it allows us to dive deep without worrying about sponsors. Lucas: Alright, back to GitHub. So once you've made a few contributions, how do you present it? Don't just list them. In your resume, say something like 'Contributed X feature to Y library, used by Z thousand projects.' Quantify the impact if you can. The developer who fixed a bug affecting a critical edge case — that's a tangible win. Luna: But what if the pull request gets rejected? Does that look bad? Lucas: Not at all. In fact, it shows you tried. Many maintainers appreciate the effort and will give feedback. You can then try again or move to another issue. The process of having a PR closed and learning why is valuable. Some interviews will ask, 'Tell me about a time you received constructive criticism.' You have a ready answer. Luna: So it's a double win: you build technical skills and soft skills simultaneously. Lucas: Exactly. And keep your profile active even while you're job hunting. If you get an interview, the recruiter might peek at your GitHub the night before. You want them to see a streak of activity, not a desert. Even a small commit the day of shows you're engaged. Luna: What about forking enterprise repos? I know some bootcamp grads worry about contributing to their company's private repos once they get a job, but what about before? Luna: So my takeaway: start with documentation, find a project you use, and ship small, regular PRs. Treat your GitHub like a garden — water it weekly. Lucas: That's a great way to put it. And if you do that, by the time you're in an interview, you won't have to convince anyone you can code. They'll see it. So the question is: are you building in public?