If you have hobby projects that show you are capable of self-directed learning and working, you will have no trouble getting hired. The hardest part in hiring i

If you have hobby projects that show you are capable of self-directed learning and working, you will have no trouble getting hired. The hardest part in hiring is figuring out which people are genuinely interested in coding and will learn on their own vs the folks who took a course (even uni!) because they heard the salary is good and have no real interest. Programming in the real world is so much about self-directed learning that if you can demonstrate that, you go way up the resume pile. I have hired several times, and if I got a CV from someone like you, I would give it top priority. Now that said, you might well need to look for unusual companies, but this is honestly not that hard. When I decided to go work for others (after 10 years freelancing), I applied literally to about 140 places on stack overflow careers, knowing that the vast majority were going to see "self-taught Canadian who only wants to work remotely half time" and throw it in the bin. But I only needed 1, and it was no problem finding that within a week and a half. I treated it like a sales gig: 20 applications a day for a bit over a week and I had interviews. My tips for you as an adult: Be clear about what your value proposition is and what your constraints are, get your hobby work in a format you can show and be ready to talk about, and then fire out a boatload of applications clearing stating your position, regardless of what the job ad says. There are lots of small companies out there who would love a responsible, experienced-in-life adult as a part time junior coder, and very frequently the "needs" on the job add are bendable. It's really a numbers game of finding the place for whom your constraints are a good match with their needs. I was totally self taught, started at age 30 after only hobby hacking, and now 16 years later, I'm able to work part-time, from home, and earn a very comfortable salary.