Setting Up Your GitHub Profile

Your GitHub profile is your developer identity. A well-crafted profile helps with job opportunities, networking, and building credibility in the developer community.

Profile Components

Basic Information

Access via: Click avatar → Settings → Public profile

Field	Tips
Name	Real name helps with recognition
Bio	Brief, impactful description (160 chars)
Company	Current employer or "Available for hire"
Location	City/Country
Website	Portfolio, blog, or LinkedIn
Social	Twitter/X username

Profile Photo

• Use a clear, professional photo
• Face should be visible
• Consistent across platforms helps recognition

The Profile README

Create a special repository named after your username to display a README on your profile.

How to Create

1. Create repo: username/username
2. Make it public
3. Add README.md

Example Profile README

# Hi, I'm Jane 👋

I'm a full-stack developer passionate about building great user experiences.

## 🔧 Technologies

![JavaScript](https://img.shields.io/badge/-JavaScript-F7DF1E?style=flat&logo=javascript&logoColor=black)
![TypeScript](https://img.shields.io/badge/-TypeScript-3178C6?style=flat&logo=typescript&logoColor=white)
![React](https://img.shields.io/badge/-React-61DAFB?style=flat&logo=react&logoColor=black)
![Node.js](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Node.js-339933?style=flat&logo=node.js&logoColor=white)

## 📊 GitHub Stats

![Jane's GitHub stats](https://github-readme-stats.vercel.app/api?username=janedoe&show_icons=true)

## 🌱 Currently Learning

- Go programming
- Kubernetes
- Machine Learning

## 📫 How to Reach Me

- Email: jane@example.com
- LinkedIn: /in/janedoe
- Twitter: @janedoe

## 💼 Open to Opportunities

I'm currently looking for remote frontend positions!

Dynamic Elements

You can include dynamic content:

• GitHub Stats: github-readme-stats
• Activity Graph: github-readme-activity-graph
• Top Languages: Part of readme-stats
• Recent Activity: Via GitHub Actions

Pinned Repositories

Showcase your best work:

1. Go to your profile
2. Click "Customize your pins"
3. Select up to 6 repositories

What to Pin

• Your best projects
• Active projects
• Projects with good READMEs
• Varied technologies to show range
• Popular/starred projects

Contribution Graph

The green squares show your activity:

Less                                           More
  □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
  □ □ □ ■ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ ■ ■ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
  □ □ ■ ■ ■ □ □ □ □ □ ■ □ ■ ■ ■ ■ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
  □ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ □ □ □ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ □ □ ■ □ □ □ □

Tips:

• Consistent activity looks better than sporadic bursts
• Contributions include commits, PRs, issues, reviews
• Private contributions can be shown (Settings)

Achievements

GitHub shows achievements for:

• Pull Shark (merged PRs)
• YOLO (merged PR without review)
• Galaxy Brain (answered discussions)
• Pair Extraordinaire (co-authored commits)
• Starstruck (received stars)
• And more...

Social Features

Following

• Follow developers you admire
• Their activity appears in your feed
• Shows on your profile

Organizations

Join or create organizations:

• Shows org membership on profile
• Can set visibility per org
• Good for team projects

Sponsors

If you have open source projects:

• Enable GitHub Sponsors
• Accept donations for your work
• Shows sponsor tier on profile

Profile Best Practices

For Job Seekers

1. Real name and photo: Be identifiable
2. Clear bio: What you do, what you're looking for
3. Pin best work: Show your skills
4. Complete README: Tell your story
5. Active graph: Show consistent work
6. Contact info: Make it easy to reach you

For Open Source

1. Pin maintained projects: Show active work
2. Link to documentation: Help contributors
3. Show expertise: Technologies you know well
4. Community involvement: Issues, PRs, discussions

For Students

1. Learning journey: What you're studying
2. Course projects: Academic work
3. Side projects: Personal interests
4. Goals: What you want to learn

Example Bios

Frontend Developer

Frontend engineer at @company. Building beautiful UIs with React and TypeScript.
Open source contributor. Coffee enthusiast ☕

Student

CS student at University. Learning full-stack development.
Building projects to solve real problems. Open to internships!

Open Source

Creator of popular-lib. Making developers' lives easier, one commit at a time.
Sponsored by @company. he/him

README Tools and Resources

Generators

• GitHub Profile README Generator
• readme.so

Widgets

• Stats: github-readme-stats
• Streak: github-readme-streak-stats
• Activity: github-readme-activity-graph
• Trophies: github-profile-trophy

Badges

Create badges with shields.io:

![Python](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Python-3776AB?style=flat&logo=python&logoColor=white)

Summary

• Set up complete profile info (name, bio, photo)
• Create a profile README repository (username/username)
• Pin your 6 best repositories
• Maintain consistent contribution activity
• Add dynamic elements like stats and badges
• Tailor your profile to your goals (job seeking, open source, etc.)
• Keep it updated as you grow

In the next module, we'll learn about pull requests—the heart of GitHub collaboration.