It&#x27;s not.<p>You know how I got started in the restaurant industry?<p>A friend said, &quot;Want to work at my restaurant?&quot;<p>So I did.<p>Another friend, knowing I wanted to get into film, said &quot;Wanna come work on sets with me?&quot; Just like that. Foolishly, I blew 3 and a half years in school instead. But I didn&#x27;t have to do any of that, I could&#x27;ve just gone to Cali and started working so long as I wasn&#x27;t picky about what I did in the beginning.<p>I, like the author of the piece, have managed, with considerable cajoling, to get into an entry-level position at a software consultancy but even that took me 8 months of government-paid internship and another year of self-training before that, plus hours as a hobbyist programmer when I was a kid. It was basically luck, and persistence, that got me this job at all, most other software firms and recruiters took one look at my resume and passed.<p>Getting this job is one of the hardest things I have ever done. There&#x27;s no easy route. As a self-trained programmer, I&#x27;m hampered heavily by the lack of degree, but a degree means 4 years minimum of schooling, and even some amount of study just to qualify to get into the university that I will do that schooling in.<p>I am, it&#x27;s true, after all that, making more even with what is a pretty small salary for a coder, making more than I ever did cooking in the states. And I&#x27;ve got a very understanding employer, with a flexible schedule and benefits even as an entry-level grunt that are better than I ever dreamed of as a kid. But it&#x27;s hardly been an easy or magic road to career success. I had to prove myself over and over, and still fight with anxiety over making sure I can do it again every day just to keep a hold on where I am, let alone move up from there.<p>Coding isn&#x27;t for everyone, and while yes, I pulled it off so far, I still think the bootcamp&#x2F;Codecademy&#x2F;MOOC snake oil of &quot;Buy our course for just €49.99 and become a rockstar coder!&quot; shit is basically a pack of lies.