How does participation in professional IT communities affect career?
We know that for IT recruiters it is extremely important to close a vacancy in the shortest possible time in the least expensive way. To do this, recruiters have a variety of tools and techniques: both for the direct search for the right specialist, and for a preliminary assessment of his professional skills. They look at the candidate’s work experience, the skills indicated to them, the feedback from colleagues. Including looking at his activity in the professional IT communities.
Therefore, a month ago we introduced ratings of participation in the IT communities on My Circle. Now each applicant can show on his profile what contribution he made and what awards he received on Habré and Toaster , on StackOverflow and GitHub .
But what role do professional IT communities play in the lives of developers and in their careers? How important is the employer for information about the applicant's participation in these communities? Which communities are more important and which ones less? Is it possible to somehow count, measure and evaluate this?
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We conducted a survey among the users of My Circle on this topic, collected the answers of thousands of respondents and translated them into visual diagrams. In our opinion, it turned out a very curious and convincing picture.
Portrait of a survey audience
Let's see who participated in the survey. In principle, we see the same distribution by specialization and type of company as in our previous surveys. This time we decided to clarify the position / qualification according to the generally accepted classification among developers. And once again they were convinced that on “My Circle” seniors and leads make up a significant part of the community (44%).
Participation in IT communities
The overwhelming majority of respondents follow Habrahabrom (85%), almost every second also follows Giktaim, GitHub and StackOverflow, every third follows the Toaster. Half of the respondents did not participate in these communities as authors. Almost every third contributes to GitHub, every seventh - to StackOverflow, every eighth - to Habrahabr and Toaster.
Among other communities, mostly called profile groups in social networks, instant messengers and forums, mentioned the medium, as well as such communities as Open Data Science, Web Standards and Reddit and others.
The majority (60-75%) participate in the IT communities for personal development: they follow trends, support their skills, and learn. Less (20-40%) participate for the sake of concrete practical benefits: for the development of their projects and the expansion of contacts, a good portfolio and career. And even less (10-20%) participate for the sake of helping others: they teach or develop other people's projects.
Developers regularly argue whether it is necessary to advertise their participation in professional IT communities at work, because this is not a direct fulfillment of their duties. But it turns out that for the majority, two specialists out of three, the interest of participation in communities coincides with the current working interest, one helps the other and one follows the other.
Nevertheless, for one of the three, these interests coincide only half or not at all. We think that for such a dynamic industry as IT, where every year new technologies and specializations appear, specialists are forced to deal not only with their current responsibilities, but also to look more broadly at adjacent or new areas.
Look at the IT community from the applicant
Two of the three specialists, it is important that the potential employer know about their participation in the IT communities. One of the three is indifferent. What is curious is that if we ask about the same thing, but in relation to the current employer, then only every second is important, and every second is indifferent.
That is, participation in IT communities is a little more important for creating new working relationships than for maintaining existing ones.
And now, one of the most curious parts of the survey, in our opinion. We learn how often IT communities in practice significantly influence the career of a specialist. It turns out that every fifth in his career had such cases!
The most influential community in this sense is GitHub. In half of the cases, it is this community that plays a crucial role in obtaining a new job. In a third of cases, Habrahabr plays such a role. In every seventh case - StackOverflow.
Among other communities that have a direct impact on their careers, have indicated various thematic forums and meetings.
A look at the IT community from the employer
Half of the respondents take part in evaluating potential candidates. That is, even if they do not make independent hiring decisions, in one way or another they influence those who make such decisions. Approximately one in two is interested in the participation of candidates in the IT communities.
Three out of four employers are interested in the participation of a candidate in GitHub (75% are interested). Every second is interested in participating in "Habrahabr" (48%). Slightly less interested in participating in StackOverflow (39%). Every tenth - participation in "Toaster", "Giktayms", Behance, Dribbble.
Every fourth employer had cases where the participation of a candidate in the IT community played a significant role in the decision to invite him to work.
The most influential community in this sense is, again, GitHub. In almost three cases out of four, this community has a crucial role in inviting a candidate for a vacancy. In a third of cases, Habrahabr plays such a role. In every fifth case - StackOverflow.
findings
We used to know that participation in IT communities plays a big role in professional development and specialist career. But thanks to this survey we were able to clarify this knowledge and get quantitative perceptions.
First, we clarified that every second of those who evaluate potential candidates, draws attention to their participation in the IT communities. And every fourth of them notes cases where this information has played a significant role in the decision to hire.
Secondly, we found out that GitHub is the most influential hiring community: almost three out of four employers pay attention and make hiring decisions on the participation of a candidate in this community. The second place belongs to “Habrahabru”: every second looks at him, every third on him decides on hiring. The third place belongs to StackOverflow: every third is looking, every fifth makes key decisions.
Charts are prepared using the service infogr.am
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/335344/
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