Want to develope skills, but don't know which and how

Hello, now I want to set out my problem.
I’m studying computer sciene at university ( firs course of bachelor ). We learn Linear Algebra, Discrete Math and so on.
Now I know C++ and so feel, that basics of Java are easy to learn. But I have never worked on some real projects. I solve some problems on codeforces, but I’m not really sure, that this is the way to succes. I just know, that such olympiad tasks are given on interviews, but don’t know how much these skills are needed in real life. So… My question is : which is the real way to develope? I want some certainty.