The "Third Door" to a $150K+ Coding Job (No Degree)

And here’s an opportunity for those of you looking for coding jobs.

While everyone's fighting for the same shrinking pool of Big Tech jobs, the federal government just opened a side door most people will ignore.

The US Tech Force program launched last week. They're hiring engineers—salaries $150K-$200K, no degree required, skills-based only.

Most self-taught coders will scroll past this.

They want Google or Meta on their resume, not the IRS or Department of Defense.

That's a mistake.

Here's what aspiring coders get horribly wrong

When you're 30+ and switching careers, your single biggest problem isn't learning to code.

It's proving you can code professionally.

Every job posting screams "2+ years experience." You have zero.

You've built portfolio projects that look like... portfolio projects. Recruiters can smell the difference between a tutorial-based app and production code from a mile away.

The gap between "I did some courses" and "companies trust me with their systems" is massive. And it gets wider the longer you spin in tutorial hell.

The credibility gap

Private sector tech hiring is brutal right now. Companies are laying off engineers with actual track records.

This makes competition for the few open roles in the tech industry MUCH more intense.

Even if you land interviews, you're competing against CS grads who've been coding since they were teenagers. Against bootcamp grads who at least have some structured projects.

Against H1-B holders who'll work for less just to stay in the country.

Your age works against you. Your self-taught background works against you. Your tutorials-only portfolio works against you.

The hiring manager sees your resume and thinks:

"Can this person deliver IRL? I don’t need to take this risk. I have hundreds of more qualified candidates in my pipeline."

You need proof. Not potential. Proof.

What the government actually offers

The Tech Force program is a two-year term. You work on real infrastructure projects—AI implementation at DoD, data modernization at Treasury, and critical systems at IRS.

These aren't trivial problems. Federal agencies run systems on a massive scale. Billions of transactions. Millions of users.

Real impact. Especially because there is less competition, which is EXACTLY what you want to break into a new career. You can compete with the big dogs in 3-5 years when you’re an experienced engineer.

After two years in a good government or agency, you walk out with:

Verifiable professional experience on your resume
Real engineering challenges you solved at scale
A track record with institutional credibility
Security clearance (valuable currency in tech)
Network across agencies and 25+ partner companies (AWS, Google, Microsoft, Palantir, etc.)

More importantly, stability while you build that track record.

Private sector? You could get hired, then laid off in six months when the next downturn hits.

Government? Budget cycles are predictable. Layoffs are rarer - every probability percentage point matters.

You know you have two years minimum to prove yourself.

The strategic play

Everyone treats government jobs like second-tier. That perception creates opportunity. For you.

Competition for these Tech Force roles will be lower than equivalent private sector positions. Much lower.

The federal government struggles to attract tech talent—that's why they created this program. Their challenge is your advantage.

Meanwhile, you're getting paid $150K-$200K to learn on production systems. Getting mentored by engineers from top companies. Building relationships with people at agencies that always need more technical talent.

When your two years end, you have options:

Stay in government (less competitive, decent pay, stability, pension)
Move to one of the 25+ partner companies (preferential consideration for alumni)
Leverage your federal experience anywhere else in tech

You're not trapped. You're positioned.

Why this works for career changers

At 30+, you can't afford to waste years spinning your wheels. Every month you're not earning a tech salary is lost income you'll never recover.

The typical self-taught path: study for 12-18 months, send out hundreds of applications, maybe get lucky, maybe don't. High risk.

The Tech Force path: apply with skills you already have (they want early-career talent, not senior engineers), get accepted, start earning immediately, and build genuine experience for two years. Lower risk.

You're not trying to convince some startup to "take a chance" on you. You're joining a structured program designed specifically to bring in people without traditional backgrounds.

No degree requirement. No minimum experience threshold. Just demonstrate technical competency through projects or certifications—which you should already have if you've been self-studying.

The long game

Most people optimize for the brand name on their resume. They want that FAANG logo so they can flex on LinkedIn.

Strategic thinkers optimize for options.

Two years at Treasury or DoD won't impress your former lawyer colleagues the same way Google would. But it opens doors they can't see.

Government experience signals you can:

Navigate bureaucracy
Work on regulated systems
Handle security requirements
Deliver in complex environments

That matters for defense contractors. For healthcare tech. For fintech. For any company dealing with compliance-heavy systems.

You're also building a safety net. If private sector tech implodes again, government positions remain stable. If you want to go back later in your career, you already have the network and clearances.

This isn't settling. It's playing chess while everyone else plays checkers.

The real question

Are you chasing what sounds impressive, or building what actually works?

The Tech Force program is a rare opportunity that levels the playing field.

But most self-taught coders won't apply because they have more ego than track record.

They'll keep grinding LeetCode and sending applications into the void, hoping someone gives them a shot.

You can do that. Or you can take the structured path that removes the guessing.

Your biggest risk isn't making the wrong choice. It's making no choice and staying stuck.

I get zero for recommending them. The US gov doesn’t know or care about me.
But this is the guidance I’m giving my mentees, and the ones that follow my strategic-entry-into-tech advice get results because they always go for The Third Door.

If you want to change your life, your career, and your future, then…

Four ways we can help you:

1. Wondering what learning to code actually means?

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3. Career Change To Code Podcast

Driving? At the gym? Hiding in the bathroom? Perfect time to inject the best techniques for a career change to code directly into your brain via

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Wow. This is the last week of 2025. Zoom. Whoosh. Year done.