Having recently started as a "professional" developer, coming from the realm of the hobbyist, I can say that the best thing you can do is get a job.
Start with an internship if you are not yet confident in your skills. The best way to hone your abilities is to set up a situation where you get unexpected problems from code you did not write or an environment you aren't entirely familiar with, and fixing it with the mindset that failure is not an option.
It also helps to get paid while you're doing it. Really. It shows that someone has put an incredible trust and investment into you, and they value your intellectual output.
Start a personal website to host your projects, make it available to the public. Take a look at the tools you use. Try submitting code contributions to the open source projects. Start a blog and document your hardships and discoveries for other budding hackers.
Hopefully this advice helps you some, best of luck!
Start with an internship if you are not yet confident in your skills. The best way to hone your abilities is to set up a situation where you get unexpected problems from code you did not write or an environment you aren't entirely familiar with, and fixing it with the mindset that failure is not an option.
It also helps to get paid while you're doing it. Really. It shows that someone has put an incredible trust and investment into you, and they value your intellectual output.
Start a personal website to host your projects, make it available to the public. Take a look at the tools you use. Try submitting code contributions to the open source projects. Start a blog and document your hardships and discoveries for other budding hackers.
Hopefully this advice helps you some, best of luck!