I would be living a completely different life if it wasnāt for OSS. In most parts of the world, itās unlikely that you would get a mentor in Software Development. OSS is how you move from being the smartest kid in the class to the dumbest in the room. OSS is how you learn.
OSS is a way to ālift yourself upā and get possibilities that you would never have dreamt off. Itās like winning a full scholarship from a top university. Its best part is that you should just show up and do the work.
Having a couple of contributions would not get you a job. And you wouldnāt learn much. Find a project you use, something you are passionate about, and start working. Build something amazing. Figure things out by yourself. Get slapped a few times by folks way more experienced than yourself. Learn.
Note that maintainers are busy. Filing useless PRs or continuously asking guidance on basics wonāt get you anywhere.
My answer to all that ask āhow do I contributeā⦠is a link full of āgood first issueā. However there is no āstep by stepā on fixing the bug. Do the work and learn.
For me a āgood first issueā is something I can fix in < 30 minutes of work. I expect it to be a challenge for less experienced folks. Go learn.
Being in the top 0.1% of anything is a good way to get hired. Randomly filing pull requests in projects you don't use is just a good way to annoy people.
IMO, this puts the cart before the horse. Open source doesn't make devs good, open source is made by good devs.