Having your START guide PQS signed off will not get you advanced. You have to both pass a test over that material at boot camp, and beat the minimums on the baseline PFA to go from E-1 to E-2. (That shouldn't be hard for you if you're physically fit, but it seemed important to make the distinction.)
To make E-3 on merit, you have to get noticed by your RDCs in a good way. Best methods I hear are to be in a leadership position, and hold that position to the end. It's not guaranteed, as you say, but it's your best chance. Knowing your stuff is obviously one good step towards getting noticed.
Being a team player at all times is another. One of my recruiters gave me this hint: Occasionally while you're out doing other things, the RDCs will come into your barracks and do a rack inspection. If anyone's rack is not perfect, they will "hurricane" the room, which means stripping everyone's mattresses (and I think also emptying rack lockers of your clothes and stuff) and tossing it all in a giant pile on the deck. People who come back to this scene and start rooting through the pile for their own stuff are failing the test. People who take the lead and organize the process of sorting everyone's things are doing it right.
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