Does occasional open source contributions make much sense?

Question

I made some open source contributions to existing projects in form of patches(which were eventually accepted).

But I don't understand how this occasional contributions can be a good thing when looking for a job.. Most likely that your customer won't look for patches in different places.

For me, it looks like OSS contributions can be help me to find a job only after a long period of time and after official accepting me as a member of core developer in these projects.

Am I right?

Please give me some advice

P.S. let's assume this topic just from one side - as career development opportunity. I totally agree that open source contributions have positive impact on your skills.

Answer 1

The fact that you have written patches and they were accepted already means that you have some competency as a programmer and that this was recognized by other programmers.

It also shows that you are able to understand different projects and be able to contribute to them.

There is also the aspect of displaying community participation - this is something that is more important to some employers than others, but can still be a factor.

As @ConcernedOfTunbridgeWells commented - is also shows initiative and the ability to troubleshoot problems in unfamiliar code bases.

These are good things and should be pointed out to any employer, whether you become a core developer on an open source project or not.

Answer 2

Well, if and to what extents contributions to an OS project influences an employer's decision to hire you will depend on the employer.

But in general any contribution will probably be considered positive. Actually, spending too much time on a project might also cause a red flag with some (problematic work-life balance, will the person have time for work as my employee...?).

So I'd say occasional contributions will still help. If you're worried that the employer will not find them on their own, just list them on your resumé.

Answer 3

Yet another thing that counts is that you like the thing you do, after you're doing it even if you don't get paid.

Working the thing you love to do in your spare time is a great signal for the potential employer, that you're the man! Attitude to the stuff you do is of great importance and most of the employers are well aware of that fact!

Answer 4

Making the odd OSS contribution to fix bugs that were causing problems may in some senses look better to an employer:

• You're showing the ability to jump in and make fixes on a codebase, to aid productivity
• You're not potentially scaring the employer that you might be too dedicated to another project

In my mind, your participation is one of the primary ways OSS should work. You found the library you were using had a bug or lacked a feature, and hopped in to improve it.