For the past 4 years I have worked in c# doing web development. I have really enjoyed it, learnt a lot and have a worked hard to get to a position where I am earning good money and enjoy the work.

However lately - I have wanted a change. What with the "native renaissance" I would like to change my career from being high level application and web development to more down to the metal native development.

I haven't done any c or c++ since Uni over 4 years ago and so I have begun reading text books and websites to brush up.

However - one major issue I have is that I have no practical experience with C++ and although I am brushing up on it, there will be a lot I don't know.

Most of the jobs I have seen in native code around me all require native experience. The only positions I can find that don't explicitly ask for native experience are junior level positions. In my current role I am a mid level developer and although there would be a lot to learn in a c++ position, I wouldn't class myself as a junior.

I guess my question is, how do people solve this issue when changing programming languages for their profession and / or how would you approach this hurdle? Like I said, I would really like to try out native development professionally but I wouldn't want to move back to a junior role. Would employers consider years of managed development and native hobby projects enough experience?