I was in a pretty similar situation and asked around in a larger organization I was a member of. Got a long shot offer that initially didn't sound too appealing

I was in a pretty similar situation and asked around in a larger organization I was a member of. Got a long shot offer that initially didn't sound too appealing (customer service) through my network, that fortunately put me on the right path to enabling me to automate my job away and change to engineering. Thought I was just lucky, but way later on in my career, I learned that most opportunities don't happen in the first or second layer of your network, but in your third one (which kind of makes sense regarding the exponential growth). I think it was a study referred to in Keith Ferrazzi's "Never Eat Alone" that by the way also gave me a good pointers in terms of marketing myself (even if I won't ever be the full scale hustler he is). Anyway, back to the point: Barring any hard credentials, a good option might be making yourself vulnerable and just reach out for help in your network. Not just friends, but friends of friends, their friends, clubs, associations, organizations. Get a warm intro. My biggest insight back then was that I figured I didn't need to know somebody directly to profit from network effects. Aim a bit broader, not neccessarily directly for your dream role, but for a company that might have it, has a good culture and is on an upwards trajectory. Good luck!