jamesmp98

I've been daydreaming recently about escaping the web / app development field as it just isn't appealing to me. I've been interested in other subfields for years, but it seems that web development is the only real accessible field for people without a formal education. Recently, I've been looking at various things like FPGA development, etc., and I understand if I wanted to get into, I pretty much have to go back for at least a bachelors and likely a masters, but I don't understand is how you actually land a job.

Doing application development was easy. There are a number of entry level or junior web / mobile / etc app development jobs, and I was even able to help make up for some things with th fact that I had done freelance / hobbyist work for a couple years.

But I look at jobs in more niche fields and I see very few entry level jobs, most wanting experience with the relate tech. There isn't really going to be a freelance market for a lot of this stuff nor really an accessibility for hobbyists (or if there is, it seems that you aren't going to get the same type of exposure as working with said tech professionally)

Is it all about connections? Do you have to know numerous people in these fields before you can even consider working in them? I'm a bit lost as of right now as to how to escape spending the next x decades doing something I'm not very enthusiastic about.

I currently work doing the typical line of business web app development and I'm so disallusioned with it. Web development (and really business app development period) just bores me and I feel like I'm just doing different variations of the same thing.

I've always been interested, as a hobby in doing more low level type stuff. Think OS development, device driver development, firmware etc., but I don't think there's really any market demand for those type developers anymore and I imagine it would be extremely competitive (especially as I have no formal education)

Is there any real way to break into this field? I'd be willing to go back to school and such, I just doubt the existence of such jobs

To spare you the details, I've found myself in a bit of financial trouble and while I have plans to fix it, I could speed up the process by utilizing the boatloads of free time I have particularly on weekends to make some spare cash.

Are there any sort of no cost businesses or services I could provide that I could perform on these weekends? I used to do web development for small businesses, but that's a pretty non-existent market these days. Also I don't / can't drive so that eliminates a number of options. I don't need to make much, even just $50-$100 a week would be helpful