Accelerate Your Career Development with GitHub Spaces and Copilot!

[samsmithnz]

Career development can often feel overwhelming - where do you start, how do you find a mentor, and how do you know you're on the right path? In today's fast-paced professional landscape, leveraging the right tools can make all the difference. GitHub Spaces, combined with the power of Copilot, makes this process simple and efficient.

By adding just two markdown files to a new repo: a copy of your resume or LinkedIn profile, and an individual development plan, you can quickly generate personalized recommendations for your next career steps and relevant training opportunities. I’ve found it easier to use markdown files, however, if your files are not in markdown, Google Docs can easily download your documents as markdown (File>Download>Markdown). I copied and pasted my LinkedIn profile directly from the website-the formatting doesn’t matter much, the Large Language Model (LLM) will take care of it for us.

Once your documents are in place, we need to browse to Copilot Spaces to create our own “Space”. Copilot Spaces is in public preview, and free to use for anyone with a Copilot license.

From here, click on the “New Space” button, and configure 3 things:

1. Add a name for our Space. I suggest: “My career development”

2. In the instructions add the prompt. I suggest: “Review my career history and current skills, then recommend potential next roles and specific trainings or certifications that will best prepare me for those opportunities”
   

3. In the attachments, attach the markdown files in the repo we created in the previous step.
   

That’s it! Now we can start the fun part, asking GitHub Copilot to review our attachments and create suggestions. I’ve found the base model is more than sufficient here, but feel free to experiment with premium models too. I’ve tried a variety of different prompts, but of course, keeping things simple and direct are best.

Let’s start with "What roles would you recommend for me next?" Within moments, GitHub Copilot analyzes your experience, skills, and career goals, providing a comprehensive list of potential roles, actionable next steps, and targeted training resources, with explanations about why it selected the choices it did. This tailored guidance helps you clearly see your career trajectory and identify the most impactful areas for growth that match your passions and ambition.

Other prompts I recommend trying:

• What training or certifications would you recommend for me next?
• What additional roles or training opportunities would you recommend that we may not have considered yet?"

That's it! Take this as a starting point, and play around with it to fit your needs.

I have completed some experimentation with incorporating my last performance review and personal interests, but I found that these documents tended to focus on just the last 6-12 months, or the personal interests were ignored because they didn’t fit in with my current career (as much as I’d like to play guitar all day-it doesn’t seem to be in the cards in this parallel universe).

In less than 30 minutes, GitHub Spaces and GitHub Copilot can transform your career planning from a daunting task into a clear, actionable roadmap. Whether you're exploring new roles, aiming for a promotion, or looking to build new skills, this streamlined approach empowers you to confidently take control of your professional development. Try this out, let us know what you discover about yourself and future potential!

[rfalanga]

Hello @samsmithnz, this is an interesting idea. It's something I've wondered about for a long time. However, I've got some questions for you. First, I assume that the repo I would need to create to use this must be public, correct?

Second, once I enter things like my resume, LinkedIn Profile, etc., converted to Markdown, is what it generates fixed? I tend to update my resume every other month, so I want to know if this ia a one-and-done type of deal. I'd like to know if I can change it later, if I feel it is necessary.

Third, I don't get what Copilot Spaces is about; what's the problem it is trying to address. I went to the link, and saw that I could create something I think of as a Copilot personna. I'm sorry, I don't get why that would be advantagous.

[samsmithnz]

Great questions @rfalanga!

1. The repo can be private or public - I've used both.
2. When you ask Copilot a question, it's looking at the current state of the space. Copilot Spaces is really the same as attaching a doc to a GPT question - the difference is that Copilot Spaces is maintaining the state of the attachments. Spaces isn't that different than GPT in that way - it's just convenient.
3. Check out this video for more use cases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0LWEWLUt48. Another colleague has been using to index a repo fill of meeting transcripts to generate customer insights (all with the customers permission of course!)

[rfalanga]

Thank you very much @samsmithnz! And especially for sharing that YouTube video. It helped me understand Copilot Spaces better.

Would I be correct in thinking that I can have multiple Copilot Spaces?

[W-N-R]

Hi @samsmithnz, thanks for sharing such a creative approach to career development using GitHub Spaces and Copilot! I love how you've streamlined the process, and I’d like to address your questions to help clarify things.

First, the repo you create doesn’t need to be public. You can set it to private, which keeps your resume, LinkedIn profile, and individual development plan secure. Just ensure you have the necessary permissions to access it when setting up your Copilot Space.

Second, the recommendations aren’t fixed. You can update your markdown files (like your resume) whenever needed—every other month or more often—and reattach them to your Space. Copilot will reanalyze the updated content each time, so it’s not a one-and-done process. Feel free to tweak it as your experience evolves.

Third, Copilot Spaces addresses the challenge of providing context to Copilot, turning it into a tailored assistant. Think of it as creating a "persona" or knowledge base specific to your career, rather than generic suggestions. By feeding it your documents, it understands your background and goals, offering personalized role and training recommendations. This is advantageous because it saves time, reduces irrelevant advice, and aligns suggestions with your unique path—much like having a mentor who knows your history.

I’m excited to try this myself! Thanks for the inspiration—looking forward to seeing what I uncover about my own career trajectory.