Hey everyone,

I'm a 28M self-taught software developer with \~7YOE, most of it abroad as a contractor. No college degree, no certifications, just a lot of grit. I come from a poor background in a third-world country but managed to get my Green Card a couple of years ago.

I was pretty lost growing up, raised by a single mom in a tough environment. But I’ve always loved learning—especially when it comes to challenging, complex things. I got into electronics in high school, stumbled onto microcontrollers, and picked up a bit of C and BASIC. I even tried college, but it was way too expensive, so I dropped out.

I also taught myself English, and at one point I was working a customer service job and feeling miserable. A friend convinced me to learn Java, and it changed my life. I landed a job as an apprentice at a small contractor firm, and from there, I dove deep into coding. I loved learning all the intricate details and spent hours reading, watching Devoxx talks, coding, and improving my skills. I became obsessed with writing clean, maintainable code and sharpening my soft skills.

But here’s the catch: in my country, white-collar software engineering jobs are nearly impossible to land without a degree. Contractors (like me) get treated as disposable bricklayers with no say in any technical or design decision. There’s no identity, no promotions—just doing the bare minimum to get by. I was stuck in that grind for years, and it drained all my passion for the work.

Then, a miracle: I got my Green Card and moved to the US!

It was the Golden Era of you know how to CRUD you get a job, and I landed a job as a software engineer at a medium-sized company and immediately realized how different things are here. As a contractor, you’re just a ticket-slinger, but as a software engineer, you're expected to actually care about the business and create real value. People’s resumes here are impressive, with measurable accomplishments like, "Decreased page load times by 32%" or "Integrated workflows that saved 18% time to customer." This is the kind of impact I always dreamed of having early in my career, but I didn't.

Sadly I was already stuck with this “do the bare minimum to keep your job” mentality, so even when I had the opportunity to take on more responsibility and ownership, I didn’t—and I regret it. Now I have an extremely unimpressive, seven years a slave, resume.

I got laid off a couple of months ago (restructuring, not performance-related), but I’ve managed to find another contractor job. Still, the job market is brutal right now, and I’m worried about my future.

So, here’s where I need your advice. I’ve got strong critical thinking skills, attention to detail, solid communication abilities, and a real love for learning hard stuff. I feel like I’m still young enough to turn things around, but I don’t know the best way forward.

Given that I don’t have a degree and my resume is mid, should I:

• Pivot to something like Cloud or CyberSec?
• Go back to college?
• Give up corporate and go freelancing?

I feel like wasting the opportunities I have is unethical, especially considering where I’ve come from, and the people who will never have access to them. I want to make the most of what I have, but I also have a family and bills to pay—what would you do in my shoes?