Participating in open source is one of the best ways to develop the core skills every engineer needs. these skills don’t just include coding and problem solving, but more importantly, a wider perspective on software engineering. Participating in open source projects can teach you to give and receive critical feedback, to lead without authority and to consider others’ usecases that may differ, or contradict your own. Surprisingly, I understood this only when I transitioned to working on closed-source software after years of working primarily on open source. In this talk I’ll share this realization with the audience and explain why working on open source could be the best career move any novice, or even senior developer could make.