It's hard to build a career out of being 'self taught'. I'm a self-taught embedded firmware developer who started messing with my dad's accounting computer back in about 1978. I was kicked out of university for reasons we won't delve into but the end result was I got my first industry job in 1986. It was a hard road consistently making less than my degree'd co-workers, some of whom I identified as high-functioning idiots (and of course, many who were awesome at their jobs); being passed up for promotions, getting the crap-tasks, etc. It wasn't until 2007 that I was recruited by a company who wasn't allowed to hire me as an employee because I didn't have a degree so they offered to hire me as a contractor. Suddenly I was being paid a lot, valued for my skills and what I brought to the table. I was also recruited by other companies and worked on some amazing products. Finally retired at 56. The big reward for me was mentoring a high school robotics team because I craved showing kids that they can conceive of ideas, come up with a design, and build it with their hands. I love the look on kids faces the first time they use a drill press to make a hole in some metal because their parents have no tools and pickup the phone to get things fixed around the house. Many of these kids go on to STEM type programs/roles because they now have a passion for that stuff.
[self agrandizing rant over]
