From hobbyist I went and did a bachelors in business information technology. I also did some coding for a charity and made some online apps for the organisers.

From hobbyist I went and did a bachelors in business information technology. I also did some coding for a charity and made some online apps for the organisers. On the degree program, I did work experience, and then afterwards applied for jobs. I guess you can skip education, but where I come from, it's hard to get employed without previously working some place else, which is why most people do related work training (usually unpaid or poorly subsidised by the employment office). Educational institutions usually tightly knit into the industry with some companies running on a revolving door of students. One other thing. Having a good github presence goes a long way. Make pull requests, interact professionally. People interviewing you will be reading all that.