I'm in a similar situation -- transitioning from another profession, with a background in public health (epidemiology and biostatistics) and interpretation/translation (as a certified translator). I've been programming for fun and as a small part of my job for the last few years, but now have reached the point where I really need to find a full-time job as a developer since I'm find myself constantly drawn to writing code for side projects instead of focusing on my current job's requirements. I've been bitten by the programming bug, so to speak. I'm starting to pick up freelance jobs, and am working on open source projects in the hopes of gaining experience. I'm hoping to enter the profession through the machine learning/NLP route -- with my graduate studies in biostatistics, and fluency in several human languages, it seems like a natural fit.

I'd love to hear from others who have transitioned from another profession to programming in recent years. Advice from experienced programmers on how to break into the profession full-time would also be most welcome.