Certs, and on-the-job experience is what you will need. But don't think its going to be easy. You MUST get certified. Get Net+, A+ and as many Microsoft certs as you can stand. There are some schools around that will offer training and the certs. (I went to TechSkills) There are job placement programs, of course, and temp/contract to hire companies like Robert Half Tech., and Sapphire Tech. They do not tend to offer "Good" IT jobs, but will get you experience, which more and more is...well...more important to a company then your education. They would be stupid to hire a student right out of college, than someone with 3 to 5 years on-the-job experience under their belt. I'm a college drop out who did terrrrrible in high school. After working for 'Tha Shack' for 4 years and getting laid off, I decided to break into IT. I signed on to a Vocational College and 3 Years and a few dreadfully awful IT jobs later, here I am working IT for a fairly small, privately owned, wealthy, international company. It's exactly the job I had been looking for for so long. Good pay, benefits, fun, educational, not a call center IT job. A wise, older friend of mine once told me. "The best jobs are never advertised" and to "Develop a network of people" Get certified, work some crummy IT call centers and what-not and you will eventually find a hidden gem.