Back in 2010, while graduating in computer science I wrote an iOS app called "Ricarichiamoci" that allowed students of Pisa University (unipi.it) to recharge and manage their dining facility cards via mobile instead of queuing for 30 minutes in front of a few ATM-style recharging machines. The app scraped and submitted data via a form on the official facility company website (unusable on mobile)
The company lawyer called me and accused me of "hacking" their website and ordered me to shut down the app or I would be sued. 30 (very long) minutes later the CEO called me, apologised, and offered me a job as iOS engineer.
And this is how I landed my first job, and the one that shaped my career for the next 13 years.