Hi Andrew,
It sound like you’re possibly a little bit further in your learning than James who posted this Manual tester looking to move into automation - help required! but maybe some of the responses on there will provide some insight for you.
Firstly I would say that most of the best developers I know have no degrees in software engineering/computer science so I’d not worry about that part at all!
If you’re not yet at the desired standard you’re showing huge promise I would say and the fact you are pouring your own time into this will speak volumes to potential employers. The right employer may even hire you as you are right now because you have a solid testing background and a proven willingness to learn. If you’re looking to get a job where you might learn on the job, explaining things like What does the term Automation mean to you? and as @chris.adams says, knowing that automation is wider than UI level and being able to discuss that.
I’d suggest you also look at #testchat from last night too, there are some interesting points raised there about automation in general.
Lastly, there is a post on here Products and sites to practice testing on which should give you a few more areas to use for practice if you can’t get the opportunity to in work. I used a lot of them myself to get a good grounding before I let myself loose on a work product for automation.