[Lonely Raven]

Just a heads up though from someone in the field of computer
repair....

There is very little money in "building" computers. a "Break/Fix"
tech averages about $12-14 an hour. Which might sound
pretty decent to some people now...but when your doing
it 10 years later and still making $12-14 an hour, it don't look
so good.

I hate to say this, but it's a great way to get your feet wet, and
get some great experience...but Try CompUSA. It's a hard
environment, lots of stress, lots of wierd issues come through
the door, and you have to deal with customers. Sounds pretty
crappy right? Good, cause it is...and that's the way break/fix is.

If you want to go where the money is....you NEED to learn
networking. Get your MS Certs and Cisco Certs and just as
importantly, get a college degree! I know people who have a
college degree in English, and they make more as techs then
people without any degree, simply because they finished college.
I'm sure being a computer science major helps...but it's the paper
that all too many companies look at.

For help getting a job in the future, make sure you keep a list
of references. Even if it's a friend of the family that you build a
kick ass PC for. Everything helps.

One thing that I did, that not only helps for references, but is
also good for the community.....I called up local grade schools,
perocial schools, and some high schools and offered them a
resume with my PC experience and certs listed with a note saying
"I fix as much as I can in on day for a flat rate fee of $150 for the
day- XXX hours of work". I was laid off earlier last year and doing
that saved me from losing my apartment and having my
electricity shut off. You have to figure, when a place like CompUSA
or CDW or even the big boys like Compaq or IBM offer a tech to
a school, they say something like $49 an hour for 8 hours. So
$150 flat rate looks pretty damn good to a school with a tight
budget.

Sorry, I'm rambling. I just thought I'd share some tips from my 6+
years of experience. Right now, I make more then my dad, I drive
a SAAB Tubro, and I race D Class Porsches as a hobby. So I think
I'm doing OK.