[jdowner]

In your situation, my concerns would relate to evaluating your (1) ability to write professional software and (2) what are the gaps in your knowledge.

To address these concerns, consider contributing to an open source project.

Many of the hurdles a candidate has to clear to get a job as a software engineer are intended to determine whether you can actually program. Ignoring the effectiveness of these hurdles, the point is that you need to demonstrate the claims on your resume/CV. If you contribute to an open source project you are putting your work out there for everyone to see, including how you actually work with other engineers and how you deal with critical feedback about your work.

There is a lot of software engineering that is not interesting or attention getting but it has to be done. Often, this involves learning about things that you would not have bothered with if you are a hobbyist. By contributing to a successful open source project, you will be exposed to ideas that you might not otherwise have encountered.

[neontomo]

I hadn't considered that last idea of yours before, thank you.