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[Tellemurius]

Luckily where I live students can get 'interest free' loans to cover tuition, although we are slowly changing to the usa model it seems

sucks doesn't it, the new goddamn loans are fucking retarded, one your parent has to cosign and have to pay for your delinquency and the interest is higher than the stafford loans. it puts the parent's credit on the line which i feel is unfair. my dad worked hard to get his FICO back up from his bankruptcy  5 years ago to get it up around 700+, he told me plain sight he is not cosigning shit for me. only way out of these loans is failing their FICO check which i heard is now below 600. I know this loan was set out so the government can get their money back from delinquents from the beginning of the stupid economic repression but now i don't have much of a choice for pulling in some money unless join the military or work forever at some crappy job. What the hell happened to this country?

[Ephemeriis]

What the hell happened to this country?

Seriously?

I'm not real happy with the state of the union right now...  But that's your big beef?  Student loans?

Student loans are still available.  Maybe not as nice as you'd like, but they're out there.  Government grants and tuition assistance are also available.  As are scholarships.  And you can always work your way through school.

My kid is making his way through school just fine.  Got a couple scholarships and a grant.  Hasn't had to take out a loan yet.

[Virex]

I don't know about your university, but at ours, there are a bunch of jobs students can do (though some are unpaid). Coming from Chemistry, I don't know about the IT department, but over here, students can assist with research or work for the "chemistry shop" which is a non-profit organization that does things like soil characterization or surface water analysis. Other departments have similar shops. I think some spin-offs are also looking for assistance, but you may need to have some qualifications for that. Perhaps you should see if there are similar things on your university, since these are the things that yield easy qualifications.

[Rysith]

I'll chime in here as a programmer with friends in IT: The people who say that you need connections or a degree to get into anything major are right, but mostly because even with that criteria in place there are still tons of worthless resumes flying around, and so the concern is more about cutting down the number of people that you need to deal with than it is about worrying that some qualified people might be being excluded. Tough, but that's how it seems to be.

There are two real ways to get around that filtering, as far as I can tell:

1) Go get a 4-year degree. If you're looking for only programming/computer/IT classes, you'll be disappointed. If you look at it as a time to try out a scattering of new things (Ever taken a course on existentialism before? Management? Now's your chance!) and learn how to learn, that can be a very productive two years (assuming you can transfer over the credit from the 2-year degree). Many four year programs also have connections into intern programs, which is a good place to start getting your foot in the door at larger places.

2) Don't go for the big places that are deluged with everyone who can figure out how to throw together a resume. Look for startups, small companies, things like that and try your luck there. You'll likely have to ask around a bunch, but jobs do exist there, and they generally have the time to actually bring you in and see if you know what you're doing. After getting a bit of experience there, you can move up to work somewhere larger and more well-known.. If you even want to. Many of the people that I know in that kind of role love the job satisfaction that comes with it, and have no desire to move on to other employment.

[Ephemeriis]

After getting a bit of experience there, you can move up to work somewhere larger and more well-known.. If you even want to. Many of the people that I know in that kind of role love the job satisfaction that comes with it, and have no desire to move on to other employment.

Your mileage will obviously vary...  But generally speaking, the larger the organization the more specialized your job will be.

I work at a small hospital.  Our IT department is just four people.  This means that I've got my hands on literally everything.  VoIP phone system, network operations, telemedicine, security, various health information systems, digital radiography...  You get the idea.

It can get a little overwhelming at times...  And there are days when I find myself scanning a workstation for viruses or installing Microsoft Office and thinking Seriously?  At this stage of my career I'm still doing this shit?  But it keeps things interesting.  And even the mind-numbingly simple work can be a nice break from the mind-bendingly complex stuff.

At one of our sister-hospitals they've got a couple dozen folks in their IT department.  They've got one guy up there who does nothing but program Cisco equipment all day long.  I think that kind of uniformity would drive me to distraction very quickly.

[DFPongo]

OP,
Does your college have resume writing and interview courses? Do you do final projects or work terms?
Are you personable and likable? Can you convey that to an interviewer? People might hope that these considerations do not matter in systems. They very much do.
People notice resumes that interest them, they favour interviews with people that they would like to work with.
That is all you have, you have no experience, you have no proven achievements and references that can tell a prospective employer that you can do what the new employer needs and you are good to work with.
Better start being pretty sure of what you want to do. And it better be what the person across the desk needs.
Good luck, I took a 2 year program 20 years ago and its been great for me.

[Ephemeriis]

Does your college have resume writing and interview courses? Do you do final projects or work terms?
Are you personable and likable? Can you convey that to an interviewer? People might hope that these considerations do not matter in systems. They very much do.

We're doing some hiring right now, and I can vouch for this.

You will not be writing code in a sealed cubicle in the basement, cut off from outside contact.  You will be working with other human beings.  You need to be able to communicate and interact with them.  Sometimes via written text, sometimes face-to-face.

Your resume and cover-letter give folks a taste of your written communication skills.  It needs to look professional.  It needs to look like you have a clue what you're talking about.  Simply listing buzzwords isn't going to cut it.

Your average human being doesn't know how to write a good resume or cover-letter.  Take a technical writing class.  Attend workshops.  Learn how to polish up that resume and cover-letter.  They're absolutely essential in getting your foot in the door.  If they look like crap you won't even get an interview.

When it comes time to interview you really need to come off as somebody that can work with others.  These people are going to have to put up with you for ~8 hours a day, day after day, week after week.  You can't just spout off technical qualifications.  You have to be at least marginally personable.

You can be a godlike security guru...  But if nobody can stand to work with you, you will not be an asset to the company.

Coming directly out of college you probably aren't going to have a whole lot of professional experience.  Rambling on about what you learned in various classes is only going to get you so far.  What you need convey is a genuine interest and understanding in the subject matter.