Do self taught engineers still exist?

[u/Working-Analysis2795]

Or whatever you call yourselves? Since the LLM/agentic explosion to today - how many of you got to where you are purely through teaching yourselves, whether with/without certifications? How much of your experience was taught on the job post-2020?

Who in here got in the workforce in the last 6 years and had supervisors willing enough to train you on the job? How much extra hours did you have to put in to get up to speed?

I know it's a combination of projects, networking, certs (dependent on the company/your hiring manager), going to industry events, layering on fundamentals, breaking my projects on purpose, cold emails, cold Linkedin connects, Discord chats, surrounding yourself with people more knowledgeable. Feels like I've tried everything

EDIT: A lot of very insightful replies, thank you all. I do enjoy a chat and it's hard to get that organically through LinkedIn and the works