Even in America it&#x27;s difficult to get a job with no CS degree and no experience. Actually it can be tricky to get a job with just a degree and no experience.<p>I got an English degree and then spent the first several years building Drupal websites on contract. Eventually I built up enough business experience to pursue more sophisticated work.<p>Contributing to Open Source is great too, in that there&#x27;s no barrier to entry except your ability to work on a team and write sufficient quality code. Employers will still want to see some traded-code-for-money type experience on your resume though, so it&#x27;s best to bite the bullet and find some lowball consultancy work.