Overview

There has been a fundamental shift in job recruitment requirements. There is much more value in your skills than in your degrees. Companies now place more emphasis on the skills and abilities of candidates rather than their educational background. To demonstrate your skills to potential employers, you need to build personal projects, and working on open source projects is your best job-seeking hack.

Having experience in open source means that you know how to do one of these: create or develop a project, implement it using the required technology, debug, document the code, and work in a team.

A significant benefit of contributing to open source is that it increases your chances of being considered by hiring managers.
The question is: “Can you get a job by contributing to open source?". Well, the answer will be seen in this article as you read.

If you are new to open source, I wrote an article on the concept of open source and how you can find open source projects to contribute to. Click here to read.

Open source contributions and your Career

As an Open-source contributor, contributing to open-source project can make a difference in your career growth by improving your skills, gaining experience, and increasing your circle or network.

Consistently contributing to open source projects allows you to enhance your problem-solving and technical skills, learn from other Open-source contributions, find and fix bugs, document code and gain feedback from experienced techies.

Your Github repositories serve as a resource for compa recruiting developers or designers with experience in a particular language or technology. Recruiters can better understand what you've done through your open-source contributions. Thus, providing you with an opportunity for career advancement.

Getting a job by contributing to open source

Here is how you can get a job through open source contributions;

Create an online presence around Open Source.

You build an online status when you start contributing to open source. You can also improve this status by having an online presence on Github, branding yourself, using social media to constantly advocate for open source online by posting facts, and encouraging people to contribute to open source projects. Doing this demonstrates your concern for the community and willingness to lend a helping hand to others.

Your name will be associated with open source when you are mentioned in a room or searched on Google.

Interact with members of the Open Source community.

The teams supporting or sponsoring open source projects often consist of large organizations constantly hiring. These organizations may decide to hire people that contribute to their software. Collaborating in open-source communities allows you to network with industry experts, gain credibility, and get hired.

Partake in Open Source hackathons

Partaking in open source hackathons as a contributor or maintainer is a great way to get real-world software development from the comfort of your home. You would likely see your rating among your peers.

SCA HackFest and Hacktoberfest are open-source hackathons that begin in October, so here's your chance to be a participant. Here’s a list of other open-source programs that you can participate in.

Reference your open source contributions in your resume and during interviews.

Recruiters may ask you how you learned a particular language or your proficiency in a specific technology. Your open-source contributions act as evidence of your ability. Also, list noteworthy Pull Requests in your resume; explain how you contributed to the project and the benefits of your pull request.

Where you can find Open Source jobs

The following are websites where you can find open source job postings;

• OS Design Jobs
• Free and Open Software Jobs
• Open Source Job Hub
• A GitHub Repository lists companies actively hiring for open source roles.
• Remotive: OSS Jobs

Conclusion

Besides helping open-source enthusiasts become more technically proficient, open-source contributions create employment opportunities. You can secure an internship or full-time employment by taking advantage of the real-world experience gained while contributing to Open Source.

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