I taught myself around age 25. I learned Perl and Java, and had a position within about 6-8 months. I was fortunate to have some connections in the industry,

I taught myself around age 25. I learned Perl and Java, and had a position within about 6-8 months. I was fortunate to have some connections in the industry, and found what was basically an apprenticeship under a programmer who was brilliant, and also self-taught. As another commenter pointed out, curiosity is a critical part of being self-taught.