The need for tech talent is substantial, but the pool of competent candidates is in shorter provide. It also does not assistance that unemployment is minimal, as it further more narrows down your talent pool and would make it more difficult to obtain good workers.
With levels of competition for tech talent large, you are very likely seeking for new and revolutionary means to determine, entice and recruit excellent tech experts. This write-up will support you do just that by conveying a exclusive sourcing tactic, Github sophisticated look for. You’ll discover what Github is as effectively as why and how you should really source tech industry experts from the platform.
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Table of Contents
What is GitHub?

GitHub is a cloud-based mostly social sharing web site. In its place of sharing existence updates, career postings or pics, even so, GitHub consumers share code. The platform operates on an open-resource framework, this means the code is open to the general public and can be altered by any individual. The alterations are tracked by using the platform’s Git revision manage technique (hence the title GitHub), so customers can see how code modifications from its initial form.
Why Recruit on GitHub?

In this day and age, just about each and every corporation desires pros with coding, developing or programming encounter. No matter whether you are updating your company’s web site or building an app, you will need software package engineers and software package builders — equally of which are some of the most in-desire roles in the task sector.
Businesses need to get extra strategic with their sourcing techniques if they want to defeat out the competition and bring in best computer software engineering expertise. For the reason that tech experts have limitless job options, they are not actively hunting for jobs or updating their digital resumes. They’re also not likely to respond to the very long checklist of recruiters attempting to link and get them to apply.
As a substitute, for individuals tricky to seek the services of technical roles, you need to have to meet talent on the platforms they recurrent. For most computer software engineers and builders, that system is GitHub.
How to Recruit with GitHub Superior Lookup

In purchase to obtain fantastic program engineers and developers on GitHub, you to start with need to understand how the system functions and what to appear for. Begin by building an account on GitHub that consists of information on your business.
Furthermore, develop a applicant persona so you know what to search for throughout your research. Your applicant persona need to contain data like locale, experience, education, programming language and abilities.
Related to other social sharing web-sites, GitHub people have profiles with the following information and facts:
- Typical: Name, Locale, Date joined, Deal with (or screen name)
- Qualified: Task title, Employer, Training, Abilities, Website, Call info
- General public exercise
- Followers/Following
- Forks (code that’s been copied)
- Sources (original code from person)
- Stars (GitHub’s model of likes)
GitHub profiles also consist of a calendar graph of when and how many contributions a consumer has built to open supply code in the past yr.
Additionally, there is a part known as repositories, or “repos”, which are locations on the platform where open up-supply development projects or software program packages are saved. On a user’s profile, you can see which repositories the consumer has labored on and how significantly their work has been starred or forked. Repositories give you insight into what languages and techniques a person has demonstrated, which is a lot far more insightful than bullet points on a resume.
Look for for Applicant Personas

Repositories are a goldmine for recruiters hunting for particular information to discover aptly qualified pros. Relying on what you are hunting for, GitHub breaks down a range of lookup inquiries and how to use their internet site to slim down your success.
Yet again, your prospect persona will aid you decide what you want in your next program developer or engineer, so make absolutely sure you full that initial. Listed here are the most prevalent approaches to search for end users by conditions on GitHub:
- Language
- Amount of followers
- Range of forks (copied code)
- Variety of stars (likes)
- Subject or variety of subjects
- License
- Repository dimension, name, description, or contents of the README file
- Inside a user’s or organization’s repositories
- Lookup based mostly on the contents of a repository
- Look for based mostly on whether or not a repository is a mirror
- Lookup dependent on no matter whether a repository is archived
- Look for centered on the quantity of difficulties with fantastic to start with difficulty or assist desired labels
Depending on your lookup metrics, you can reorganize the look for success you get by finest match, most followers, fewest followers, most not long ago joined, minimum a short while ago joined, most repositories and fewest repositories. When it may possibly appear to be counter-intuitive to come across folks with several followers or repositories, if you happen to be wanting for a junior program engineer, this can be practical to discover people today new to the discipline.
Slender Down Best Candidates

As you begin to detect pros that resonate with your group and replicate the prospect persona you established for the role, you can get started narrowing down your solutions even more by browsing for far more distinct conditions, this kind of as:
- Locale (area:chicago)
- Competencies (language:ruby)
- Followers (followers:<100)
On the profiles that stand out, make sure to take note of important information on their profiles, like:
- Name
- Job title
- Website
- Public activity
Additionally, you can use Boolean search tactics on Google to further narrow your search on GitHub. Boolean search is like a DIY version of advanced search fields, and using Boolean search in recruitment saves time sourcing candidates, ultimately reducing your cost-per-hire.
Let’s break down some examples of how to use Boolean search to find information on Github.
URL: AND SITE:
You can search for results on a specific website by entering the URL: or site: Boolean search operator to target specific candidates on GitHub (or any other site for that matter). You can use this search to narrow down candidates by keywords, like their job title, current company, location, skills and language.
Boolean Search Example
- site:github.com software AND (engineer OR developer) AND ~resume -job -jobs -hire -hiring
*Do not include an extra spacing between operators. Follow the format above exactly.
This is an example of a search query for someone looking for:
- Candidates on GitHub (site:github.com)
- Who are software developers or software engineers (AND (engineer OR developer))
- Who have a resume or something similar (~resume)
- And wants to exclude any job postings (-job -jobs -hire -hiring)
INTITLE: / INTEXT: / INURL:
You can also utilize Boolean search tactics to search GitHub for resume pages or links within a website. Candidates often create websites with digital portfolios and professional documents. Such documents are often uploaded under a file name that includes “resume” or “CV.” Use the following search string to locate those downloadable documents on GitHub.
Boolean Search Example
- site:github.com (inurl:resume OR inurl:CV) software AND (engineer OR developer) -job -jobs -hire -hiring
*Note: intext: searches the body text of a web page, whereas inurl: searches within a URL.
This example is for recruiters who are looking for:
-
Candidates on github (site:github.com)
-
With a downloadable resume or CV ((inurl:resume OR inurl:CV))
-
Who are software developers or software engineers ((software AND (engineer OR developer))
-
Excluding any job postings (-job -jobs -hire -hiring)
Connect with Candidates

Once you’ve identified a few prospective candidates you want to pursue, do your due diligence and learn as much as you can about them before connecting. Go onto other social platforms and search their name to see where they’ve worked and what projects they’ve worked on. The more information you gather, the more personalized your message can be, and the better chance you’ll have at standing out from other employer inquiries.
Consider the projects they’ve worked on in the past and inform them of similar or more challenging projects your job opportunity has to offer. If you know their interests, you can identify how they will add to your company culture, and you can share elements of your culture that will entice them to take a closer look at your company.
Most profiles have a public email address so you can reach out to candidates and add them to your talent pipeline. Even if they’re not interested in your job opportunity now, it doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in your company altogether. You can always ask them to join your talent community so they can hear about open positions in the future.
In the event that they are interested in pursuing your offer, prepare your team for how to handle salary negotiations. In a candidate driven market where tech talent is scarce, these candidates know they’re in high demand and will wait around for the best opportunity. Having a solid negotiation strategy will make sure you’re prepared to meet the candidate’s expectations while staying within your budget for the role.
GitHub is one of the best resources out there for companies looking to find exceptional tech talent. All it takes is a little learning and adaptation to optimize your search tactics on their website. Once you get in the swing of things, you’ll become faster and more efficient at finding the specific candidate personas your team needs to drive business and boost your culture. Continue to grow your tech recruiting expertise by brushing up on additional tech recruiter resources.
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