I feel for you and understand that trying to recommend what you could/should do over the internet is hilariously arrogant/un-empathetic and everyones advice wil

I feel for you and understand that trying to recommend what you could/should do over the internet is hilariously arrogant/un-empathetic and everyones advice will converge to cookie-cutter ones like github profile/open source contributions blah blah. Unfortunately, most of the obvious advice is true. Since you don't have the "normal" credentials of college/past employement/referrals, you will need to put some time in building an alternate set. The good news is our field is an awesome one for credentialing yourself. If you don't feel like you have the stamina/drive for a open source projects etcs, how about competing on topcoder? Good luck.