[y-c-o-m-b]

This posting really irks me. It's reminiscent of those "agile coach" marketers that tell you "this is the REAL way to do agile". The only thing I agree with is the mentoring. If you have a desire to learn and you can find a strong and supportive mentor, then you will go far. All the other stuff in the article feels like high school popularity contest tips. You don't need to do all those things to "level up". Side projects are nice, but you'll find most people - especially in corporate/business software - don't have side projects. Nor should they have to. People have families and duties outside of software, so I hate how there's a cultural push to be a huge github contributor; it pressures ordinary folks to take time away from their other passions. Just be a good person and willing to learn, that should take you far enough.