Funny, I'm purely self-taught and have worked for little local cos as well as big ones such as Pepsi & Bear Stearns (as a consultant at $hundreds per hour). Never had any problems with the fact that I had zero "official" credentials whatsoever.
They all hired me for what I had already shown I could DO.
I even put on my resume "School of Hard Knocks" - back when I actually had a resume.
If I were you, I would wonder that the common thread is in your experiences.
You defined yourself - as a product of your experiences - and you sold yourself, brilliantly. That's cheating. ;)
But seriously, I'm more concerned with the student who is interested in doing both and is still unsure of their career, than in the competent professional like you or me. It is obvious that the field wants desingineers, more than self-teaching can produce - what can we do to encourage them, either at the educational or at the job title/industry level?
They all hired me for what I had already shown I could DO.
I even put on my resume "School of Hard Knocks" - back when I actually had a resume.
If I were you, I would wonder that the common thread is in your experiences.