Thanks for the response - it's great to get that kind of encouragement. Do you think that there are certain types of positions where they are averse to self-taught professionals (like Database Management for example as a guess)?

I am going to focus on completing some projects and building a small portfolio and git-hubbing them all - then promptly start applying for specific roles.

I think you need to change your frame of mind on the question. For example, you are seeing it as "certain type of positions averse to self-taught" and in reality, it's not based on position but instead employer. For example, some employers may very well have had bad experience with a self-taught developer while others, the best person in the office is self-taught. There is no one unanimous position on this based off of the job. So just apply around and make sure to accent your self-teaching, studies, material covered, courses taken if any, PROJECTS, etc... And be prepared to answer serious questions. Perfect example of a large, successful employer is Raytheon. Their positions say in bold: no degree or certificates required period. They don't matter to us. I also have heard (or have friends who work at) even Palantir, Google, Microsoft, and some of the other bigger employers will interview you without a degree if you know your stuff.

I was self-taught, yes... But I also was prepared to answer heavy CS questions because my goal was to show them that I could give myself as well-rounded as an education as an actual CS graduate, if not better. I did not take that lightly at all. I spent some days 12-14 hrs studying, coding, and I was coding and learning 7 days per week. Even on days I saw my girlfriend, I would be coding until 3-4, then even 6-10 am while she slept. If you have that type of outlook, some people will actually look up to you more in fact. I've had people tell me "wow, that's amazing, I would not have the discipline to learn that much on my own" etc...

Make sure you do give yourself a well-rounded education though... Don't just learn to code. Learn how the computer works, learn a bit about binary, learn what virtual memory is, learn about what the real difference between the stack and heap are. That's a common one. I guarantee you if they ask you whats the difference between the stack and heap and you explain not just conceptually, but also how they are implemented in the OS, and they know you have no official schooling, that'll look real good for example... But mostly, it's just so much fun to know and learn!

Not trying to brag here at all, but I need to tell you the facts to encourage you and tell you the reality. Another thing too is, I don't consider myself to be "self-taught" really. I learned from all of the amazing professors, teachers, scientists, and engineers who authored all of the material that I've read, watched, and studied until this point. The difference is I developed my own curriculum and worked at my pace. Don't be shy about that, if you're reading and comprehending and then putting into your code concepts written by world-class programmers, that's a serious education.