As a non-degreed individual, I didn't hear anything from places I would apply. Eventually, I applied for a non-development job at a company that also claimed it developed software. With the hopes I'd be able to kind of prove my chops while in the other role to get moved over.
Luckily, the company I applied for had no fucking clue what they were doing and hired me for a software development position because their entire technology team had just quit like a week ago or something. And while that job essentially started me on my path to where I am now, and I don't consider myself incompetent. They honestly had absolutely no clue on how to evaluate technology credentials.
My resume was my incomplete education, my work in retail, and a bit of the hobbyist development I had done on the Dreamcast.
Now, the job turned out to be an entire shit-show. This was a company who claimed to develop software but didn't have a license for Visual Studio. No one knew how to manage a SQL Server. Etc. They were looking for a glorified help desk technician who could write some config file level stuff for the software package they were a reseller for.
However. They did contract the bulk of their networking to another company. And also contracted with the owner to be the effective CTO or something. Eventually, that guy knew I wasn't happy or challenged at the job. And when he heard I was looking, he just offered me a job. So I became a contractor for him.
Eventually, one of our clients had their developer just walk in the middle of a project and they needed me there like every day to salvage the situation. After a while, they realized it would be more cost effective to just essentially buy me. So now I work for them, and I have for the past 6 or 7 years. Timeline is a little fuzzy. This client is major. You've heard of them. Now, I get recruiters contacting me and solicitations in my email even though I haven't actively looked for a job since 2007. Even though the place I work for is not even a technology company.
I also had no degree and wound up working for a small software company as an IT "intern" which quickly lead to being their sole IT person. That company was also a complete shit-show, but had I not worked there I wouldn't have gained the skills that lead to my current role, which is the best job I've had yet.
Sadly, I can't even really credit that first job with any skills.
Maybe familiarity with SQL Server Management Studio.
The only thing it allowed me to do was to shift so I would develop projects on the company dime rather than at home. If I wanted to learn python, I'd write some web services in python for my job rather than for some bullshit at home.
As a non-degreed individual, I didn't hear anything from places I would apply. Eventually, I applied for a non-development job at a company that also claimed it developed software. With the hopes I'd be able to kind of prove my chops while in the other role to get moved over.
Luckily, the company I applied for had no fucking clue what they were doing and hired me for a software development position because their entire technology team had just quit like a week ago or something. And while that job essentially started me on my path to where I am now, and I don't consider myself incompetent. They honestly had absolutely no clue on how to evaluate technology credentials.
My resume was my incomplete education, my work in retail, and a bit of the hobbyist development I had done on the Dreamcast.
Now, the job turned out to be an entire shit-show. This was a company who claimed to develop software but didn't have a license for Visual Studio. No one knew how to manage a SQL Server. Etc. They were looking for a glorified help desk technician who could write some config file level stuff for the software package they were a reseller for.
However. They did contract the bulk of their networking to another company. And also contracted with the owner to be the effective CTO or something. Eventually, that guy knew I wasn't happy or challenged at the job. And when he heard I was looking, he just offered me a job. So I became a contractor for him.
Eventually, one of our clients had their developer just walk in the middle of a project and they needed me there like every day to salvage the situation. After a while, they realized it would be more cost effective to just essentially buy me. So now I work for them, and I have for the past 6 or 7 years. Timeline is a little fuzzy. This client is major. You've heard of them. Now, I get recruiters contacting me and solicitations in my email even though I haven't actively looked for a job since 2007. Even though the place I work for is not even a technology company.
Names do matter.