[g_the_oracle]

It's not even worth applying without a degree. If you're lucky they will interview you and waste your time and not hire you. Good luck as a construction worker. Your best shot is to learn to be a foreman and work your way up as a construction worker. Or learn to be a machine operator so you can break your back less. Nobody will ever hire you to do software. The interview process will just waste your time. They will use you to fill a checkbox and say "we interviewed several candidates and chose the best one", without a degree you are always the low tier last choice. Not many people can develop software and get paid to do it. It's easier to be successful as a manager. All the big names in software and industry are business managers, not software developers.

[rubin55]

Maybe g_the_oracle is a at a place in the world where this is true, but in my experience, working in the US and in Europe, this is total nonsense.

Software and systems engineering are in my experience the most meritocratic niches in IT, and probably IT itself in general as well. If you have the skills, you'll get the chance to do it.

Good luck and don't let nonsense like this get in your head. If I'd believed messages like this back when I was trying to get a foothold, I would not be where I am today.

[baremetal]

>without a degree you are always the low tier last choice. Not many people can develop software and get paid to do it.

wow that is not true there bud.

i was a software engineer and went to construction because i burned out. but i never had a degree in comp sci and i got jobs rather easily.

[tomcam]

The above post is simply not correct. I got into Microsoft without either a résumé or a degree.

[aussieshibe]

This is bad advice, and I hope OP ignores it.

Having a degree when you're looking for your first SW role almost certainly will improve your chances.

Not having a degree won't help, particularly when you have no professional experience, but it's not the end of the world.