One possibility would be making an internal transition to a new role at the company you currently work for. This worked for me in moving from a systems adminis

One possibility would be making an internal transition to a new role at the company you currently work for. This worked for me in moving from a systems administrator to SWE position years ago. Of course it can only work if your employer actually has the type of role you're interested in and isn't rigid and inflexible about work assignments. In that case the key is to greatly exceed expectations for your current role by showing that you can solve bigger problems that are of importance to your employer.