[bbarn]

"Look at github contributions and stackoverflow posts"

That's fine for startup-ish hires, but in most of those cases, isn't the candidate being sought out/referred/etc? Almost all of my work is on non-public SCM systems, and frankly, my job doesn't leave a ton of time to post to *overflow sites, and when I go home, I'm home, and spend it with my hobbies and family.

I also consider myself a really great developer. Especially in the more corporate .net world. When I review candidates, I find that a simple (at a PC, with resharper installed) coding test, with a prebuilt solution, needing only an implementation of a method done, is a great filter for competency. And after all, rough competency is the most I hope to get out of a coding test. The far more important part is always the stuff like how well I think they'll fit in a team, how their approach to solving problems in general is, etc.

Syntax memorization is no longer a measure of a good developer. All it shows is basic competence in a language.

[chadcf]

This is a big problem in the industry, in order to really be seen as a good candidate you have to make your work a second part time job so you have something to show off publicly. If you work for a private company with private software, you could still be really good but looking at your github profile, many will dismiss you right away.

Of course the flip side is, you can probably get by with minimal outside work. Do some code katas, have an up to date best practices simple app in github, etc. I think as long as you have something in github that looks good it will do the job, even if you're not working extra hours daily on open source projects.

[switch007]

I do love the absurdity in the UK where recent employment contracts (last 5 years or so) often state that "all your everything are belong to us" (IP, copyright, creative output, thoughts, ideas etc), yet companies also want applicants who actively contribute to or release open-source software.

Having worked under such terms, I've never felt I could participate in open source without jeopardising the project.

[VLM]

Its weasel words for they want a noob, recent grad, or a contractor.

They don't want "You were doing exactly the same thing over there, now you'll be doing exactly the same thing over here", because they don't have the money in the budget for a real applicant.