Make your GitHub recruiter-ready in under an hour. Everything you need: templates, examples, and a step-by-step checklist.
Recruiters spend about 30 seconds on your GitHub. Here's what they check, in order of importance:
Create a file at YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_USERNAME/README.md to enable your profile README.
# Hey, I'm [Your Name] 👋 ## 🚀 What I'm building [One sentence about your current main project or focus area] ## 💻 Tech I work with       ## 🎯 Currently - 🎓 CS student at [University] - 🔨 Building [current project] — [one-line description] - 👀 Looking for [internship/grad role/SWE position] ## 📫 Connect - [Portfolio](https://yoursite.com) - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/yourname) - [Email](mailto:you@email.com)
You get 6 pinned repositories. Choose wisely — these are your portfolio pieces.
Every pinned repo should have a README that lets someone understand your project in 10 seconds.
# Project Name > One sentence explaining what this does and why it exists.    ## 🔗 Demo [Live Site](https://yourproject.vercel.app) | [Video Walkthrough](https://youtube.com/...) ## 📸 Screenshots   ## 🧠 Problem [2-3 sentences about the problem this solves. Why did you build this? What pain point does it address?] ## ⚙️ Tech Stack - **Frontend:** React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS - **Backend:** Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL - **Infrastructure:** Vercel, Supabase, GitHub Actions ## 🏗️ Architecture Decisions - Used [X] because [reason] - Chose [Y] over [Z] for [benefit] - Implemented [pattern] to handle [challenge] ## 🚀 Run Locally ```bash git clone https://github.com/you/project.git cd project npm install cp .env.example .env.local npm run dev ``` ## 📝 What I Learned - [Key takeaway 1] - [Key takeaway 2] - [Key takeaway 3]
Your commit history tells recruiters how you think. Clear messages show clear thinking.
| Bad (vague, lazy) | Good (clear, purposeful) |
|---|---|
| "fixed stuff" | "fix: resolve auth redirect loop on logout" |
| "update" | "feat: add dark mode toggle to settings" |
| "asdfgh" | "refactor: extract API client into service layer" |
| "final version v2 REAL" | "docs: add setup instructions and screenshots" |
| "changes" | "fix: handle null user in dashboard query" |
| "wip" | "feat: add email validation to signup form" |
Use a prefix to categorize your changes:
These take almost no time but make an immediate difference:
Consistency matters more than intensity. Here's the healthy approach:
Recruiters care more about WHAT you ship than HOW OFTEN you commit. One well-documented project with a live demo beats 365 days of meaningless commits.
Go through this list to make sure your GitHub is fully optimized: