Job Seekers Worksheet: Build Your Resume with Open Source

If you're looking for a job and want to boost your resume and network, this worksheet can help you decide what to do next.

Job seeking is really challenging, but if you've talked to me in the last six months and asked me how to find a job, you know that I've mentioned using open source. I know, I know. That can be an overwhelming experience. But hear me out if you're an early career developer.

Contributing to open source allows you to grow your skills in a way that nothing else can. You work with a team, have a proven record of communication with maintainers, show off your code, and developer real and practical skills. Yes, I've built a to-do list too, but chances are you're not going to be a solo-coder building CRUD apps. Exploring existing codebases, taking notes, and contributing will get you far more experience.

Will you have to go out of your comfort zone? Probably. But that's something you're going to have to get comfortable with if you want to be a developer. I can tell you from experience that you shouldnotwait until you land the job to get comfortable with getting out of your comfort zone. It's your new reality if you want a tech career. And if you've been comfortable for a while, it's probably time to push yourself a little harder.

It's worth mentioning that I don't recommend just YOLO-ing across open source projects. A strategic approach will help you to grow and network efficiently; and if there's anything I've learned from the last four years in tech, it's that efficiency rules.

So below you'll find a worksheet to help you identify and talk about your open source work. Because if you're looking for a job, you have to be able to explain what you've done and why in addition to showing the code.

Open Source Contribution Worksheet for Job Seekers

Feel free to share and adapt this worksheet. So if there's more you'd like to see, let us know!