3.5 Open Source Projects That Will Get You Hired

CultureFitTechnical Recruiting

When most people write a resume, they tend to highlight skills and achievements unique to their work history or experience.  It’s customary to have degrees, titles, and certifications. One thing that isn’t customary (and, in our opinion, should be) is Open Source Projects.

An open source project is really quite simple – it’s a project shared by several or many users using free, open source software. (Think Linux, undeniably the most important and the most popular)  It’s collaboration between software engineering and development at its finest.

Whether you write the ReadMe (you’d be surprised how many don’t have one) or you single-handedly engineered Fedora, it all looks good on paper, and it’s just as pertinent in your career. The experience you gain is readily transferable in the business world. The improvements in your abilities and the knowledge you gain will keep your talents refined, your mind focused, and help to maintain credible subject matter expertise – as any IT professional knows, things change very quickly in the evolving tech world.

Here are some of the best projects to get involved in to keep your skills sharp and talents competitive:

  1. Android Open Source Project. One of Google’s most well-known endeavors is also one of the most important skillsets and emerging business trends. This will allow you to contribute in the mobile apps arena; a niche nearly every company has use for. (We wrote about it as one of the top 5 trends here) Understanding the Android software stack is a fairly common skill – make sure it’s one of yours!
  2. ProjectLibre. This is a project management solution that is active in 200 plus countries. We recommend this one for several reasons: Primarily, it’s a large project that a wide variety of businesses use. There are a plethora of facets or niches to dig in to (debugging, product identification, etc) and a name that many business people – including non-tech savvy – will already know. Name recognition accounts for a lot; but more specifically, this is a mature project, so you are offered a glimpse of the finished project and an ongoing one simultaneously.
  3. OpenStack. The Cloud is the way of the future (or, debatably, the present) and OpenStack is one of the best projects for large scale cloud implementation. Cloud computing is a niche that has exploded in recent years, and even if your future employer doesn’t use OpenStack, the experience can make a difference between hired and – well, not hired. At any rate, the “cloud” buzzword has earned its way into the IT world, and familiarizing yourself with its operation is a must.

If none of these catch your interest, head to GitHub and browse around. There’s a project for just about everything. In case you’re wondering, this is the .5 in the title.

No matter what your resume says, however, we can help. We have a different approach, one that has helped us build a reputation for being one of the top IT staffing agencies in Chicago (and elsewhere). We pair together very unique candidates with very specific companies who are looking for more than just a slot to fill. At CultureFit, we place our emphasis on the comprehension of your individual characteristics and “soft skills”, not just your resume’s highlights. We understand you do your best work when you’re doing something you love, and we have a wide network of businesses looking for your creative proficiency. When you’re the happiest, you simply perform better – and we want to pair you with a business who feels the same way. Contact us today for a consultation to see where your skills can take you.