My first job in tech was ~13 years ago and I was making $9/hr. working part-time for a local ISP answering phones and racking servers. I had to commute every day rain or shine. I didn't get to do much until I pestered the network admin enough times to let me have access to a shell so I could learn to write Perl and automate some of my repetitive work.
I did that for a few years, then worked somewhere making slightly more, and slightly more, a few times to an entirely new city, and increasingly gained experience, resume cred, and made more money each time. Eventually I got to FAANG, and then even left that for a FAANG-related company with better pay. My coworkers are all college educated, have multiple degrees from prestigious universities. I barely graduated High School, failed more than a few classes, and never considered myself a super intelligent person. Years later I have designed and built a number of large and complex distributed systems for the largest companies in the world. Learned a dozen programming languages. Mentored and hired countless engineers, including a few from MIT, Stanford, etc.
I'm sure luck played a big part, but there are a LOT of us who went from nothing to a pretty great career and are self-taught. The idea that you need a "High IQ" or a formal education is bunk. A little bit of self improvement and motivation can go a long way.
I did that for a few years, then worked somewhere making slightly more, and slightly more, a few times to an entirely new city, and increasingly gained experience, resume cred, and made more money each time. Eventually I got to FAANG, and then even left that for a FAANG-related company with better pay. My coworkers are all college educated, have multiple degrees from prestigious universities. I barely graduated High School, failed more than a few classes, and never considered myself a super intelligent person. Years later I have designed and built a number of large and complex distributed systems for the largest companies in the world. Learned a dozen programming languages. Mentored and hired countless engineers, including a few from MIT, Stanford, etc.
I'm sure luck played a big part, but there are a LOT of us who went from nothing to a pretty great career and are self-taught. The idea that you need a "High IQ" or a formal education is bunk. A little bit of self improvement and motivation can go a long way.