I'm a student in Vancouver, Canada. I hold a BS in Physics and currently a candidate for a BEd in Secondary Education. Over the 8-ish months, I've taught myself Ruby, Rails, HTML, CSS, and a bit of HA.
Making something - anything that will showcase your skills - is the best way to make yourself more hireable. I've only applied for a job once or twice, whereas the rest of the interviews and offers I've gotten have been because someone stumbled upon something I made.<p>Additionally, if you have a few companies you'd like to work for and they have an API, building something that makes use of it will definitely give you at least a few bonus points.