Hello, I just have some general questions to all that are experienced in the Web Development field. I am a recent college graduate in Web Development with an Associates degree. I am having the hardest time finding a job in this market. I have experience working with ColdFusion, PHP, and .Net stuff but my only major experience is in the classroom. I worked a few support programming jobs that mainly focused on changing text, correcting mistakes and images, but nothing that would improve my skills. One of the jobs I had was so far above my skill level that I got canned for not "stepping up to the plate". Nobody wants to hire an entry level web programmer in this market and employers expect me to do 120+ hours a week web programming to "step up to the plate". I've sent out tons of applications, have tons of recruiters, and I've had my resume reviewed numerous times and everyone says its fine. Aren't there any jobs I can get that I can learn gradually? I hope no one thinks I'm being a baby about this, but I'm frustrated and just want to start working. I've got student loans to pay off and plan on starting a life with my girlfriend. I'm dedicated and am extremely eager to learn, but still want a social life too. Please, any advice is helpful. I'm about to move on to another career if this doesn't work out soon.

I'm going to move this to the Corner Cubicle, where it's likely to get more views.

Try not to get too frustrated with the market. A lot of companies are in a hiring freeze at this time. When the market picks back up you shouldn't have much trouble finding something out there. Also, try to create a profile with all the recruiting sites like Robert Half. I did this before and would get 10+ emails a day from recruiters trying to get an interview.

In the meantime there are lot of things you can do to be in the industry.

Freelancing -- lots of people want websites. They may not pay you what your time is really worth but many times you can actually get other benefits that more helpful. Having someone who feels like they owe you a favor can be a big help when you don't have a lot of money (course make sure your doing your best -- never short on a job just because you are not getting as much as you would like -- you can always turn a job down).

Open source -- getting involved in an open source project can be very beneficial. I would recommend looking into the Open Source content management systems -- even if you don't contribute to the project directly there are lots of organizations looking for people with experience in the various CMS suits available.

Classes -- Taking a few more classes here or there shows that you are not letting your time go to waste.

Internships -- Organizations seem to love interns. You may be surprised at just how much you can learn when you are not exactly hired to do something specific.