I dropped out of university (I couldn’t stand being one of literally thousands working on the exact same problem, at the same time, that thousands more had solved in prior years, for decades; I wanted to solve new and real problems). I registered as “looking for work” with the appropriate government agency and their first reaction was an exasperated “Oh my! You’ll need a good coach…”. Not the most encouraging reaction… Well, they did send me a bunch of local companies with internships, entry level jobs, etc. I applied for an internship starting next month at a really small shop that did “everything web” and during the interview they asked whether I could start tomorrow 😛 (Obviously they were a coder short for an important project, but they were very happy about my knowledge and skills). I seamlessly transitioned into vocational training with the same company, which was mostly pro-forma given my background (So instead of “university drop-out” I had something to put on my CV). Later I was on loan to another, mid-size, company (which didn’t know I was still, technically, a trainee) and they offered to hire me directly. I came clean about my trainee status, switched companies, finished my training, and was hired by that same company on the spot. Stuck with them a couple of years, until they didn’t promote me from “technical project lead” to “software architect” because they only had one opening and someone else was picked (Looking back I think I would have made the same choice, so I hold no grudge), and given the company’s size that meant there likely wouldn’t be another opportunity for some years, which irked me 😛