It would definitely depend where you apply. If you have no experience and no degree, you should have a GitHub to backup your claims - and apply to companies who

It would definitely depend where you apply. If you have no experience and no degree, you should have a GitHub to backup your claims - and apply to companies who would dig through that. There are certain companies and industries who would not touch you with a 10 foot poll w/o a degree, but hire a degree holder who sits there and looks pretty (i.e. government contractors, consulting). In reply to your Knuth comment...Tom Brady is 40 years old but you're not going to find many football players who are 40 and still playing in Super Bowls.