Look at this from another angle. You are looking to be a student of someone. A few options: The traditional advanced education path will usually form this sort

Look at this from another angle. You are looking to be a student of someone. A few options: The traditional advanced education path will usually form this sort of relationship. If you are fortunate, your bachelors program will allow you the opportunity to work with and learn from someone that can mentor you. If you haven't yet formed these sorts of relationships with your professors and are graduating already, you could start a masters/doctorate program in which you will be the student again and have (perhaps greater) opportunities to form these relationships. Outside traditional education, you could find a junior developer / engineer position of employment in which a mid or senior engineer is assigned (or volunteers) to be your boss. Learn everything you can from this person, take their criticism, code reviews, etc. and improve yourself. Even if you are hired as a developer and there is little processes in place, you can take lead and find more senior co-workers that are willing to help you. Be direct and open about the fact that you're looking to improve your skills/abilities, and that you're not just looking for them to do the job for you. Don't take criticism personally, use it as a way to improve yourself and your code. Outside traditional employment situations, you can participate in open source projects. Pick something and start working on it. Fix bugs, and ask questions about all the things you find. Be active in the IRC channel for the project, and/or the mailing list. Voice your opinion, ask questions, ask why things are done the way they are done, etc. Again, don't take criticisms personally, use it as a way to improve yourself and your code. Go to hackathons, go to meetups, go to events and be friendly with everyone. If there aren't these sort of things in your areas, start them. Attend both social events and 'building' events where people are working together to build something together. There is something you can learn from every person you meet. Establish this as your attitude.