The Ignite program is an incubator for early career engineers at New Relic, designed to increase opportunities for early career engineers by providing extra support, mentoring, and coaching, as well as exposure to a broad technical overview of the company's systems. The initial cohort completed the program and moved up to Software Engineer 1 positions, sharing their skills learned during the program, including four tiers: Basics, Dangerous, Applied, and Subject Matter Expert. They emphasized the importance of self-directed study, reading documentation, using books and tutorials, building own projects, pairing with others, and asking questions, highlighting that becoming a software engineer is about learning efficiently, troubleshooting issues, and remaining curious. The Ignite program provided invaluable runway for skill acquisition, and the authors encourage interested individuals to try some of these learning steps, noting that the program continues to grow and evolve.