quixotic history aside, how rare is it to get contract work as sendev, devops(sysop ftw) or mid-pm at some F50 houses? My offers are usually about 60% of CS holders... but I'd rather do than don't. Could just be the market in Vancouver, probably a skill issue.
I also worked at a couple of F500 companies, they typically want people with Bachelors degrees at a minimum, mostly as a check-mark on their hiring list. If you're contracting with an agency/headhunter house then they may be the ones shortchanging you, not the company doing the contracting.
Just last night an analyst came into my little startup/store. Asked him to take a look at my latest scratch build. Told me to just get a degree from a cert-farm and go for Bay-Area-level work. But, maybe I need therapy instead, because I just don't know a single colleague at the F50s in this city that say the same thing.