I can summarize my path. Ages 12-20, wrote code every day. Took a QA job at a small software company. Moved to development team. Spent 6 years there. Used that experience to get into Microsoft. 5 years there. At that point, there were almost no companies that wouldn’t interview me, and it was just on me to do well in the interviews. I have practiced white boarding all through my career.
So the idea is to get your foot in whatever door you can at that time, and climb when you can.
I didn't go to college, have no "Education" section on my resume. Senior-level SDE, 8 years of experience.
I've been asked about my education in initial recruiter screens maybe 10% of the time, and its come up later down the line in interviews maybe 20% of the time. I've never had it clearly and obviously preclude me from moving forward (as in obviously dropped from consideration after that conversation).
I've found most people who ask to be curious, but keen to move on and talk about my experience. It might be different at the entry level.
