Do you want to get started working in software development?
I have been working as a CTO in a software company for over 10 years now. I have interviewed hundreds of candidates. And what I can tell you (from experience) is that there is one group of candidates I always invite to interview despite them having little or no commercial experience.
Who are they? Open-source contributors. Why? Because they have already proven their communication, problem-solving and technical skills.
So, here's the tip I would give you to develop your skills and stand out from other candidates:
Watch one episode less and engage in open-source instead
Instead of watching yet another TV series on Netflix, or doomscrolling through social media, just spend this 30 minutes on contributing to some open-source project.
Find an open-source project on Github which sounds interesting to you and is written in the language and technology you want to work in.
Having a bunch of contributions on your Github profile means you:
have communicated with the remote team successfully,
have a track record of solving technical problems,
you experienced the process of code review, automated testing, etc.,
you have learned some aspects of the project architecture.
Start small, and engage with the project community. Most probably you won't be able to contribute the code from day one, but fixing a typo, improving the documentation, or adding steps on how to reproduce an issue are great ways to start. Helping other beginners on project Discord is also a great way to validate your learning progress.
You will grow with every contribution. Step by step, you will get to know the project better and your confidence will grow, as well as your technical skills.
Contributing to open source gives you access to world-class experts who can review your code and mentor you through the process.
If you keep contributing consistently you will quickly become recognizable in the community. And you will see new opportunities coming up.
P.S. don't forget to put a link to your Github account on your CV