Pimp My Github

Recall the old TV show “Pimp My Ride,” dedicated to “taking one car in poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it.” Let’s learn how to pimp your Github account. (This post is designed for students in my classes, but may be of broader interest.)

Consider the GitHub homes of some of my prior students. Note how professional they look! Make your GitHub look at least as good as theirs. If you want companies to treat you as a data scientist, you should present a professional visage to the world. Some observations:

• Have a bio. It may be as serious or as whimsical as you like, but it should mention your experience in R. The bio should include a link or two to clean graphics that you have put on-line, either at Rpubs or elsewhere. Start here.

• Note the photo. You do not have to use a photo of yourself — some people are shy — but you should use something other than the GitHub default.

• Provide at least an e-mail address so people can easily contact you. Providing other things — like a connection to LinkedIn — is fine as well, but the e-mail is the key item.

• Use the GitHub option to “pin” certain repos that you are proud of (and/or ones which you have cleaned up) at the top of the page. You should hide (or make private or delete) all junk/scratch repos, like the ones we create in class. The one exception to this guidance is forked repos, which may not be hidden. Those you can leave as they are.

• Your top pinned repos should be your most impressive one. For most of you, that will be the repos for your projects.