The problem with being self taught is that you're competing with applicants that have degrees. As someone who is self taught and making 6 figures in tech within 2 years of studying, the way I got interviews was to have a good portfolio of projects that demonstrated that I knew what I was doing. Good cover letters and applying for clear entry-level positions are also the way to go, and try to target mid-sized companies. For projects, try something that you are genuinely passionate about and can be published and easily seen by the hiring manager, like a website. The best project is a real profession product that is easily displayed, like a website for a local business. As someone who does interviews for the company that I work for, if I was interviewing an entry-level applicant, and that applicant clearly knew what he or she was talking about, had the initiative to learn, and wasn't a scumbag, then I would give my approval to the hiring manager. Web development is, in my opinion, the most easily accessible point of entry for new developers. I suggest learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then moving to frameworks, like React, and then SQL and Git. According to a friend that went to a 4 year university, SQL and GIT weren't required courses, and many graduates don't know what they are. Also make sure you understand APIs and how they work, which you would presumably tackle when you study SQL. Automated testing, such as Jest, is also very important and can give you a very strong edge over almost all entry-level applicants. As you make Git repositories, also make sure to have a good Readme file, which you will learn later. Finally, know that your Python and Java studies are not worthless, as the core object-oriented concept is very important and can be translated to almost any programming language. Also diversity hires are 100% a real thing. I have seen and been recommended positions from recruiters that explicitly call for a certain ethnicity and/or gender (even though I'm white and have a blatantly white name, a lot of recruiters are retarded). However, if you are a genuine good applicant, then very few companies will ignore your application in favor of "diversity." I know both a man and a woman from my previous job that were very solid software engineers, and went through a coding bootcamp, following these similar guidelines. There are companies that will give you an improved chance of getting hired at on the basis of diversity, but I work for a very large company and they don't give AF about diversity in their IT departments. Good luck; Just don't give up and you can do it :)