Originally posted by Raz
Yeah I understand, had people with me in my degree that didn't know computing basics but were getting good grades coz they memorised *stuff*. Although I've got a degree and no commerical experience, I am pretty good with hardware and can troubleshoot most problems...or at least narrow them down to specifics. It's just trying to get that across to employers...
What I could recommend is some kind of system support job that lets you do desktop support with software and hardware, and will in the fullness of time afford you the chance to work with the servers, be they windows 2000 (or 2003), Novell or UNIX.
Try to learn stuff about routers and switches, DHCP, DNS, etc as well - i.e. hard core networking stuff.
Try to develop a "global" approach where you attack the world of computing on several different vectors - hardware, software, networking and programming.
I should think about 3-5 years in such a job is good, probably 5 is too long so about 3 is probably best to really get a complete handle on what's going on - that is, if its a medium to large business, with a reasonable sized network, which is what you want. Avoid little firms unless they have really good work to offer (or, at least, if you wind up in such a place don't stay for 3 years and try to find something else right away....)
Try some courses or read some books in some differing areas. But for the first part, you should be getting into some kind of networking to compliment your hardware and software experience. Get good at installing workstations for people and learn to do it fast. Get good at answering questions and in solving desktop problems very quickly and professionally.