This page needs a newer browser to run its tools. You can still read everything here.

Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile Module 7

GitHub profile interview questions

Interview questions on gitHub profile: short warm-ups, then what each harder question tests, the first step of a good answer and its follow-ups.

11 questions: 3 warm-ups and 8 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to staff

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher to mid

What do you put in your GitHub bio, and why keep it short?

Answered in the lesson GitHub profile: bio, pins and settings
Fresher to mid

What is a GitHub profile README, and how do you make it appear?

Answered in the lesson Writing a GitHub profile README
Fresher to mid

What does a GitHub contribution graph show, and what does it leave out?

Answered in the lesson Contribution graphs and stars: what they prove

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

You apply for backend developer and data analyst roles at the same time, and your profile can pin six items. Which do you pin, in what order, and what do you change, if anything, before a recruiter for only one of the two roles looks?
What it tests

Choosing pins from the evidence each role needs, ordering them for a reader who opens the first, and keeping one honest profile for two kinds of application.

First step

List the must-haves of one real posting for each role and mark which of your public, pinnable items prove them. Pin the items that prove the most across both, strongest first, and only then decide what fills the remaining places.
Follow-ups
- Do you make two GitHub accounts, one for each role?
- One of your best projects is in a private repository. What now?
- How do you order a project you own against a merged contribution?
From the lesson GitHub profile: bio, pins and settings
Model answer, Pro. Model answers open with any pass; prices are in the notice on this page.
Opening the model answers with your pass…
Model answers open with any MySmartCoPilot pass.
Pro pass · 1 week₹79$2.99
30 days₹179$5.99
1 year₹1,699$45
One payment; a pass never renews. The price shown is the total you pay: no fees or charges are added at checkout.
Passes can’t be bought right now, so the model answers can’t be opened at the moment. If you have a pass, enter your licence key.
Choose a pass I have a licence key
It also opens every other in-depth part in Learn and every Pro tool. Sales are final, except where the law gives you a right to withdraw, for example in the EU and the UK (refund policy).
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

For three years you used one GitHub account at work, with the company address as primary e-mail, two-factor on a company phone and two work forks in your account. You resign next month. What do you do, in what order, and what must never leave with you?
What it tests

Knowing GitHub's job-change steps and why their order protects access, and keeping the employer's code and data where they belong.

First step

Start with access: make a personal address the primary one and verify it, and move two-factor methods and recovery codes off company devices, because every later step needs an account you can still sign in to.
Follow-ups
- Will the commits you made with the work address still count on your graph?
- You own the team's GitHub organisation. What happens to it?
- A teammate asks you to keep a copy of the code, just in case. What do you say?
From the lesson GitHub profile: bio, pins and settings
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A recruiter tells you they opened your GitHub profile, saw a wall of skill badges and two stats cards, and closed the tab. Rewrite the top of your profile README: what goes first, in what order, and how do you check that it works now?
What it tests

Putting the focus, the proof and the contact first, cutting decoration, and checking the result by a measure instead of by taste.

First step

Read the README as the recruiter did and mark the word at which they first meet what you want, a project with a result, and a way to reach you. Everything before those three is what you cut or move down.
Follow-ups
- Do the badges go altogether, or somewhere further down?
- Your best project has no number yet. What do you write?
- How do you know the rewrite worked?
From the lesson Writing a GitHub profile README
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A screen reader user writes that your profile README is hard to follow: links say "here", headings jump from # to ####, several emoji are read one after another and your skills badges say nothing. What do you change, and how do you test it before you reply?
What it tests

Knowing what screen readers do with links, headings, lists, images and emoji, fixing each, and testing with the tools readers use instead of by eye.

First step

Thank them, then fix what they named in order of effect: link text that names its destination, one # heading with levels in order, words instead of the badges, and at most one emoji where several stood.
Follow-ups
- How do you test without owning a screen reader?
- Do the badges need alt text, or should they go?
- What do you write for an architecture diagram in the README?
From the lesson Writing a GitHub profile README
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

In a video interview you share your GitHub profile. The stats card at the top is a broken image, and the Latest posts section lists posts from months ago, although you have written since. What went wrong, and what would you put there instead?
What it tests

Diagnosing two failures that come from outside the README's own text, and choosing evidence for the top of a profile that cannot break.

First step

Separate the two failures: one is an image another service draws, the other a section a workflow rewrites. Ask what each one depends on, then decide what would show the same thing without depending on it.
Follow-ups
- How do you check what happened to the workflow?
- Is any automation worth keeping in a profile README?
- What do you say in the interview at that moment?
From the lesson Writing a GitHub profile README
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

An interviewer opens your GitHub profile and says the contribution graph is almost empty, although your resume shows three years as a backend developer. How do you answer, and what, if anything, do you change on the profile afterwards?
What it tests

Explaining what the graph counts and misses without apologising, pointing to evidence a reader can open, and improving the profile honestly.

First step

Say in a sentence where the work was: most of it is in your employer's private repositories. Then offer one or two things the interviewer can open now, such as a merged pull request or a project with tests.
Follow-ups
- Should you turn on private contributions?
- The interviewer asks to see some of the code from your job. What do you say?
- Would a side project started this week help?
From the lesson Contribution graphs and stars: what they prove
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Senior to staff

You interview a candidate whose portfolio project has 4,000 stars, most of them from accounts created in the same week that have starred nothing else. What do you conclude, what do you check, and how do you raise it with the candidate?
What it tests

Treating stars as weak evidence, recognising signs of inauthentic activity without accusing anyone, and judging the work itself.

First step

Set the stars aside and judge what you can open: the code, its tests, its issues and any users. Then ask the candidate neutral questions about how people found the project, before you conclude anything.
Follow-ups
- Could the candidate have had nothing to do with the stars?
- Do you reject the candidate?
- What do you say to a candidate who asks whether buying stars is worth it?
From the lesson Contribution graphs and stars: what they prove
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

You rebase a branch of five commits, written over one week, onto main three weeks later, and the branch is merged the next day. On which days does your profile show the commits, which date does the repository's history use, and what does that tell a reader about graphs?
What it tests

Knowing the author date and the commit date, which commands change each, and which one the profile and the repository use.

First step

Name the two dates every commit carries and say which one a rebase moves. Then apply the profile's rule, the author date, and the repository's rule, the commit date.
Follow-ups
- What changes if you rebase with --reset-author-date?
- Does a plain amend move a commit on the graph?
- When would you use --committer-date-is-author-date?
From the lesson Contribution graphs and stars: what they prove
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes

All Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile interview questions · The Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile track

Warm-up questions

What do you put in your GitHub bio, and why keep it short?

What is a GitHub profile README, and how do you make it appear?

What does a GitHub contribution graph show, and what does it leave out?

Questions with model answers

You apply for backend developer and data analyst roles at the same time, and your profile can pin six items. Which do you pin, in what order, and what do you change, if anything, before a recruiter for only one of the two roles looks?

For three years you used one GitHub account at work, with the company address as primary e-mail, two-factor on a company phone and two work forks in your account. You resign next month. What do you do, in what order, and what must never leave with you?

A recruiter tells you they opened your GitHub profile, saw a wall of skill badges and two stats cards, and closed the tab. Rewrite the top of your profile README: what goes first, in what order, and how do you check that it works now?

A screen reader user writes that your profile README is hard to follow: links say "here", headings jump from # to ####, several emoji are read one after another and your skills badges say nothing. What do you change, and how do you test it before you reply?

In a video interview you share your GitHub profile. The stats card at the top is a broken image, and the Latest posts section lists posts from months ago, although you have written since. What went wrong, and what would you put there instead?

An interviewer opens your GitHub profile and says the contribution graph is almost empty, although your resume shows three years as a backend developer. How do you answer, and what, if anything, do you change on the profile afterwards?

You interview a candidate whose portfolio project has 4,000 stars, most of them from accounts created in the same week that have starred nothing else. What do you conclude, what do you check, and how do you raise it with the candidate?

You rebase a branch of five commits, written over one week, onto main three weeks later, and the branch is merged the next day. On which days does your profile show the commits, which date does the repository's history use, and what does that tell a reader about graphs?