hang in there...
I just want to say, "Hang in there"..... It is extremely frustrating, I know, I also was in the same "frustrating" place up until almost a month ago. I was also looking for anyone who could help me find the experience I so badly desired, and I am sure some of you out there remember me posting my concerns and frustrations as well.... But I am very happy to say that I am so glad I took all the advice I could from all who encouraged me, and I did not give up. Because after about 6-7 months of seriously looking for an opportunity to get my foot "back" in the door, and find what I was looking for, I obtained a position as a front office clerk. But it has turned out to be more than just "a job". In addition to this job, I was fortunate enough to find someone who is also serving as a mentor to me. By giving me duplicate op notes to code for practice, and teaching me all the aspects in the field of "real world" coding. This person, it turns out, is also a member of my local chapter!! Many encouraged me to go to the chapter meetings to meet the other members and put myself out there to be noticed, and they were absolutely right about the experience they said I would have...and to them I have to say thank you!! I was very nervous about going to these meetings, and I wasn't sure how I would be received,but it was, what I beleive, the start of what I have been looking for!
So my advice to you, and the many, many others still searching, "hang in there"!! If you are persistant enough, patient, and you don't give up, it will happen for you as well!! It is not easy to be patient, and to not feel the urge to give up, believe me I absolutely know what that feels like, but it does eventually happen. Take all the advice, good, and maybe not so good, what you want to hear, and maybe not what you want to hear, and use it to guide you to find what you are truely looking for. Go to a chapter meeting, meet the other members, you might be surprised, I absolutely was!! Good luck!!