komponisto comments on Learning programming: so I've learned the basics of Python, what next? - Less Wrong Discussion
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Chris, if your goal is to get a job, it may help to think about what an employer wants to see when to make you an offer for a good first job.
Don't let this distract you from the joy of learning, or from learning material that is not directly relevant, but it may provide a motivator. In the end, you'll be providing value to someone, so you may as well start thinking of it now.
Why not choose an open-source project that is well-known, and which has been historically open to accepting patches. Then find some bug that you can fix. There are tools to help you find all this. Then submit a patch, and you can honestly say that you contributed to the famous project.
It seems to me that part of the purpose of the post is to ask what this might be.
Until I get the chance to write an essay on what employers want to see, I'd say:
Coding well is essential, but employers want to figure out who has a professional attitude towards the job. Contributing to OS shows that you are willing to take on aspects of software development beyond coding up an application: Testing (for bugs, performance, etc.), bug-tracking, documentation, and more.