Everything you say is presumably true of FAANG or SV in general. Cult rules apply there, where you have to forsake anything that might serve you in outside comm

Everything you say is presumably true of FAANG or SV in general. Cult rules apply there, where you have to forsake anything that might serve you in outside communities so you risk economic death in trying to get into this one. Posers aside, the rest of the world does not function this way and advice like yours really fucked my professional development up. If you're just a regular type of dude in most of the US, none of this applies. Your Petco job does matter, your employer won't even look at your Github page, and talking about PRs will only invite clarification of whether you mean public relations or Puerto Ricans. The SV-optimized path is not the only path to success in America. This country is itself entirely optimized for entrepreneurs. Tradesmen crush it and don't have to live in fear of AI obsolescence. The most successful people I know are all undereducated immigrants and ex-military types running boring businesses selling medical equipment, carpet and tile. Always boring shit people generally need, not drop-shipped dollar-store crap from Temu. To be the guy positioned to sell N95 masks in 2019 never required a Github profile or elite education.