Well, this is a first test — you see the bachelor degree requirement and you apply anyway, being ready to explain how your specific experience and domain knowledge from previous free gigs will bring more value to their business than a generic freshly minted candidate with a bachelor's degree.

Proactivity counts. Relying on paths carved by other people isn't always a good idea.

Or, more likely, you never get called in for an interview because filtering on degree is one of the easiest things for a recruiter to do to cut down on the huge pile of applications for an open position.

My experience tells otherwise.

You're not being honest with yourself if you don't realize how lucky it was to start a career in IT in 2001 when degrees didn't matter as much.

Straight into post-bubble doom and gloom? The experience was different than today, but I wouldn't considered it lucky.