Absolutely, but when you enter that room for an interview, there may be a bias already built up against you. Somehow you made it through the door, but now you have to overcome the skeptics, maybe a team member who refuses to believe anyone without a formal degree could possibly have the proper foundation for “real work”. You can’t be just good, you have to be outstanding. Even if you shine in the interview, you may still have to make it through an upper manager who did not bother to interview you. Twice I’ve been rejected because the upper management didn’t want anything to do with me, even though the technical team was excited. I was never told exactly why, but I suspected the lack of formal education (what else?). In one case I was offered the position about a month later but already had another job.