I can tell you what I did. I had some significant problems with maturity and mental health in college, due to childhood. As a result I flunked out initially, st

I can tell you what I did. I had some significant problems with maturity and mental health in college, due to childhood. As a result I flunked out initially, still painful to admit. For several years I did a mix of mom&pop computer consulting, and worked as an official mail fulfillment person/unofficial DBA/IT (the IT person there was very bad at their job and didn't care if I helped). During that time I honed the programming skills I had started as a hobby. Then I left there, went to Ithaca, and got a job as an entry level programmer paying $32k per year. I set a goal of $150k per year by the time I was 50. I got the job based on the interview, not my credentials. I worked there for 3 years with very modest raises, long and hard weeks, but with a boss that took the time to teach me a lot. Eventually he had to downsize and all the junior staff were let go (including me). At this point my skills had improved, and so had my resume. I applied to jobs as a software engineer and had three offers when 9/11 hit. I took the one that was a defense consultancy, and started at around $50k per year. This is in a small city, not a hub or even a large city, and with no degree. Since 9/11 I have worked hard, continually learning and am now finishing up my Bachelors Degree. I made my goal and I currently make around $185k per year in Maryland. I could be making half again as much if I went back into Cyber, or worked for a TLA, but have no interest in either. In three years I will have my degree and be on my way to a masters, and I plan to start my own company at that time (I did a quick foray into starting a company on the side - it's too hard unless you let your day job suffer, and I wasn't going to do that). The point of this story is that you have the power to succeed. Network like crazy, learn the basics of something, then pick a niche in that something and get really good in it, then build a portfolio. Don't neglect your soft skills, like effective communication, conversations, reading people, marketing yourself. The unfortunate caveat... I am white, and male. That means that I get to start at the starting line for many job interviews and networking opportunities, even when there are more qualified people of color or women. The unfortunate reality of this country is that minorities and women are discriminated against, sometimes in subtle covert ways, such that they have to start a distance back from that starting line in any race. I've tried to do what I can by specifically mentoring people of color and women where possible (every one of them earned it through hard work), and fighting intolerance and bigotry where it appeared. If you are a person of color, or a woman, there are networking groups specifically to help you mitigate that bias, but you'll probably have to work twice as hard to get the same shot (at least in tech, and at least for now).