I think you missed what I am suggesting. You aren't going for the same job as somebody with a degree. It depends on what industry, but find a foot in the door

I think you missed what I am suggesting. You aren't going for the same job as somebody with a degree. It depends on what industry, but find a foot in the door and work to where you would end up in 4 years. I didn't just say "I'm going to be a software engineer let me apply at CSIRO". I applied to work at the IT help desk at a company in my home town. The manager there said "not without a degree", so I worked in customer service, ended up in communications, and built an IT system to improve communications in the company. The help desk manager still said "nope, you can't work here without a degree", but the CTO saw the work I'd done and said, just come work for head office building the systems, why would you want to work at the help desk? So, in about 2 years, I was working a better job than had I applied through the regular channels after getting a university degree. There's always a 3rd door. You can't face life head-on, it has more experience at keeping those doors closed to you. But ask yourself - if there is another way in, what is that way. Try that. You'll be wrong. Try again, you'll be wrong again. But eventually, you'll be right.