GitHub vs LinkedIn for hiring tech talent: which matters more?

For recruiters and startup founders, understanding a candidate’s capabilities is crucial—but where should you look first? Two of the most common profiles used to evaluate developers today are GitHub and LinkedIn. Each platform offers unique insights, yet relying on only one might not reveal the full picture.

🧑‍💻 Why GitHub shows what developers actually do

GitHub is widely known as the coders’ playground. Unlike LinkedIn’s polished resume-style presentation, GitHub provides direct access to a candidate’s code repositories, commits, and contributions.

This transparency allows recruiters to:

• Assess coding skills in real time: Reviewing commits and projects reveals not only technical expertise but also coding style, problem-solving, and familiarity with specific languages or tools.
• Understand collaboration habits: Contributions to open source or team repositories show how candidates work with others, communicate through code reviews, and handle version control.
• Spot ongoing learning: Frequent updates and new projects suggest continuous skill growth, an important aspect in tech hiring.

That said, GitHub only tells part of the story; it rarely includes detailed work history, soft skills, or leadership qualities.

🔗 LinkedIn offers context and soft skills

LinkedIn remains the go-to platform for professional networking worldwide. It highlights:

• Career trajectory and experience: Detailed job descriptions, endorsements, and professional achievements provide context about the roles a candidate has held and their growth.
• Soft skills and recommendations: Connections and written recommendations often reveal teamwork, communication, and leadership abilities that code alone can't show.
• Industry fit and interests: Groups, certifications, and posts reflect a candidate’s engagement with industry trends and company culture.

However, LinkedIn profiles can sometimes feel too curated or lack up-to-date technical evidence.

⚖️ Balancing GitHub and LinkedIn for smarter hiring

To get the full picture, it helps to combine both platforms' strengths. Here’s a simple approach:

• Start with LinkedIn for a broad overview: Get a sense of the candidate’s background, career goals, and professional positioning. This works well when screening for cultural fit and soft skills.
• Dive into GitHub to evaluate technical abilities: Check actual code and contributions to validate the claims made on LinkedIn; this hands-on view lowers the risk of hiring mismatches.
• Use combined insights for confident decisions: Neither platform alone shows the full story; reading both builds a clearer understanding of a candidate’s fit.

Combining LinkedIn’s professional context with GitHub’s technical transparency helps form a more complete picture of a candidate’s skills and potential.

In Latin America, recruiters face unique challenges due to diverse markets and talent pools. To get beyond just GitHub or LinkedIn, specialized platforms can offer more comprehensive views. Learn more about how to hire tech talent in Latin America effectively by mixing different data points.

If you often recruit through LinkedIn but want to understand its limitations in this region, check out our piece on the pros and cons of LinkedIn for recruiting in Latin America. It sheds light on why expanding your sourcing approach can pay off.

Our platform integrates detailed developer profiles that combine coding activity with professional background details, aiming to deliver a fuller, smarter view of candidates.

Explore rich candidate profiles merging coding activity with professional background at Get on Board.