For years, I treated my GitHub account like a dusty garage.
I had code scattered everywhere. Some of it was in private repositories, some on my local machine in files named Project_Final_v2.txt, and some existing only as templates inside my servers.
I was busy shipping solutions for clients, migrating Odoo ERPs, and managing infrastructure. I told myself:
"I don't need a pretty GitHub; my work speaks for itself."
I was wrong.
Four months ago, I had a wake-up call. I realized that in the modern IT landscape, code is currency. Whether you are a full-stack developer, a Tier 1 SysAdmin, a Project Manager, or a Marketer, your ability to show your logic is infinitely more powerful than just listing your job titles.
💡 The Reality Check: LinkedIn tells the world what you say you did. GitHub shows the world what you can actually do.
🌪️ The "Mess" (And Owning It)
I’m a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. My job is to optimize processes, eliminate waste, and build resilient systems for enterprise clients.
Yet, if you looked at my personal digital footprint four months ago, you wouldn’t have seen that discipline. You would have seen:
- ❌ Disconnection: Two different GitHub accounts with no clear link.
- ❌ Waste: Invaluable scripts (that saved clients hours) rotting in local folders.
- ❌ Silence: Zero documentation on how I solved complex problems.
It was a classic case of "The cobbler’s children have no shoes." My production servers were pristine; my personal portfolio was a disaster.
🏃♂️ The 4-Month Sprint: Applying Kaizen to Myself
I decided to treat my own portfolio with the same rigor I treat a Coqui Cloud production server. I didn't just "clean up" a few files; I engineered a complete overhaul.
Over the last four months, I consolidated everything. I dug up old scripts from hard drives, polished the syntax, and most importantly, I documented them. I took the "mess" of my past projects and restructured them into a standardized, professional architecture.
🏗️ My New Standard:
- Standardization: Every repo now has a clear structure, a README.md that explains the why and how, and clear licensing.
- Showcasing the Range: I made sure to feature the full breadth of my work—from C++ system monitors to Python automation scripts and Odoo modules.
- Continuous Improvement: I stopped hiding my code. I started pushing updates not when they were "perfect," but when they were valuable.
🤖 The Elephant in the Room: AI and the Modern Architect
Let’s be real: I use AI. We all do.
But there is a misconception that using AI means you aren't a "real" developer. I see it differently.
I use AI to dig deeper, to scaffold ideas, and to optimize solutions that might have taken me weeks to write from scratch.
- The Architecture? That’s mine.
- The Logic? That’s mine.
- The Decision to use a specific C++ library or to route a workflow through n8n? That comes from experience.
My GitHub isn't just a repository of code; it's a repository of solutions. It shows how I leverage every tool in my arsenal—including AI—to solve real-world business problems faster.
👥 Why Every IT Pro Needs to Do This
You might be thinking, "I'm in Marketing/SysAdmin/Support, so this doesn't apply to me."
Yes, it does. That mindset keeps people stuck in mid-level roles. Here is how you can use GitHub to outpace the competition:
🛠️ 1. System Administrators & Network Engineers
- The Artifacts: Bash scripts for user onboarding, PowerShell automation, Cisco configuration backups, or Docker Compose files.
- The Benefit: It proves you don't just "click buttons" in a GUI. It shows you treat Infrastructure as Code (IaC). A repo full of well-commented maintenance scripts tells a hiring manager you focus on efficiency and automation.
📊 2. Project Managers & Product Owners
- The Artifacts: Markdown templates for documentation, Jira workflow automations, or technical roadmaps hosted on GitHub Projects/Wiki.
- The Benefit: It bridges the gap between you and the dev team. Showing you understand Git flow, version control, and release cycles earns you instant respect from engineers and proves you can manage technical complexities without getting lost.
🚀 3. Digital Marketers & SEO Specialists
- The Artifacts: Python scripts for keyword analysis, basic HTML/CSS landing page templates, or setups for Google Tag Manager containers.
- The Benefit: It moves you from "Creative" to "Technical Marketer." Being able to tweak a landing page or automate a monthly SEO report with code makes you infinitely more dangerous (and valuable) than a marketer who relies solely on expensive tools.
🐞 4. QA Engineers & Testers
- The Artifacts: Automated test scripts (Selenium/Cypress), repositories demonstrating bug reproduction steps, or load-testing configurations.
- The Benefit: It shifts your identity from "Manual Tester" to "Automation Engineer." It demonstrates you can build the safety nets that protect production, rather than just catching bugs after the fact.
📈 5. Data Analysts & BI Specialists
- The Artifacts: SQL queries, Jupyter Notebooks for data cleaning, or R scripts for visualization.
- The Benefit: Excel is great, but reproducible research is better. GitHub allows you to show how you arrived at your insights, proving your data processing logic is sound and repeatable.
🎧 6. Technical Support (Tier 1 & 2)
- The Artifacts: A "knowledge base" repository of common fixes, batch scripts that fix recurring printer issues, or a CLI tool you built to speed up diagnostics.
- The Benefit: This is the fastest way to get promoted. It shows you aren't just solving tickets one by one—you are building tools to solve them permanently.
🎯 The Result
Today, my GitHub isn't a dusty garage anymore. It’s a showroom.
It features an interactive 3D tech cloud, live stats, and a clean "Arsenal" of the technologies I use daily at Coqui Cloud. It represents who I am now: A Systems Architect who bridges the gap between legacy hardware and modern cloud infrastructure.
I challenge you to do the same. Stop hiding your best work in local folders. Clean it up. Document it. Share it.
Let's build together.
👉 Check out my new Tech Arsenal: github.com/RamonRiosJr
Why Your GitHub is More Important Than Your LinkedIn