I got into the industry at age 14 when I approached a local company and asked to speak to their development team. I presented the work I had completed prior, with java creating both mods and plugins for Minecraft.
They were impressed with the programming skills I had for my age, so I asked if I could come in 1 day a week to attempt to gain experience in a professional software development environment. Further down the line, when I was finishing college age 17 (having been coming in 1 day a week since I was 14) the company had just started its proper apprenticeship programme which was being facilitated by Firebrand. The learning provided by Firebrand has given me a chance to further myself and career and has helped set me on a steady path to becoming a Senior Software Developer