Some peanut gallery observations -
* Doing something you consider a hobby as work is pretty dangerous - if you find youself stressed etc at work you don't have a hobby to take your mind off it, and similar sorts of issues.
* Where does "interested" stop and "enthusiast" begin? I like travel, and travelling on trains was the method that felt best to me as a kid, so I started paying attention to what was outside & then wanted to know what it all did & how it worked. That lead on to an interest in networks in general & some interest in industrial history, and a career path ( unrelated to railways ). So I'm pretty interested in this complex system, train travel makes me feel good ( or it can, anyway ) and I've picked up a fair bit of relevant info over the years, but I don't call myself an enthusiast. If I was in an interview I'd probably frame it something like that too ( although I'd not actually mention the word enthusiast ). I'd be doing my best to make sure I came across as a professional who'd fit in the system & not be distracted first, I think.
* Training ( degrees, pro courses etc ) I've found is best taken as a way of finding out what you should be looking up yourself to actually make use of it - treat it as a means to get the piece of paper, make your notes, and then go and validate everything yourself. I have worked in IT a long time though, so that will heavily bias me...
Contract roles in the past had me looking in the window & being glad of the flexibility of my role
but that is me, and if everyone was like me we'd not get much done.