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
- Create repo:
username/username - Make it public
- Add README.md
Example Profile README
# Hi, I'm Jane 👋
I'm a full-stack developer passionate about building great user experiences.
## 🔧 Technologies
## 📊 GitHub Stats
## 🌱 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:
- Go to your profile
- Click "Customize your pins"
- 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:
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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
- Real name and photo: Be identifiable
- Clear bio: What you do, what you're looking for
- Pin best work: Show your skills
- Complete README: Tell your story
- Active graph: Show consistent work
- Contact info: Make it easy to reach you
For Open Source
- Pin maintained projects: Show active work
- Link to documentation: Help contributors
- Show expertise: Technologies you know well
- Community involvement: Issues, PRs, discussions
For Students
- Learning journey: What you're studying
- Course projects: Academic work
- Side projects: Personal interests
- 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
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:
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.