re: Software guys of the OT. Questions about coding/getting started.

You saying AI is going to ignore COBOL because it's so old and out of date?

Kidding, we have a huge piece of enterprise code base that is COBOL and those guys that manage it make bank.

To the OP: I'll give my experience. I started working for my current company when I was 19 or 20 (started in call center and worked my way through several non IT positions). Got my degree while working for my company after about 12 or 13 years. College (admittedly different than what you're proposing) did jack shite to prepare me for developing on an enterprise level. I worked out an agreement with our Network architect and my non IT VP at the time to come in 2 hours early and job shadow him. I did that for a year, was logging into switches/routers and making changes essentially as a temp and they still wouldn't extend me a job. I finally had to go to my VP and tell her I was tired of spinning my wheels (she was genuinely a great boss who wanted the best for her employees). At that time, I was told that they didn't have the resources for a networking position but they had someone leaving development and they could put me in a development role. So I said screw it and went a completely different direction than Networking. Long story short, without experience, landing a first job felt like an uphill battle. On the outside looking in, it isn't fair that you need experience to get experience. But now that I'm inside, I absolutely get it. You can learn conceptually how code works in a bootcamp or training program, but it isn't going to teach you even a fraction of what you need to know in the long run. It's been a great career and I wouldn't change the profession I chose, but that first job can be a bitch to find.