I am trying to break into the software development side of IT. I graduated in August with a degree in computer engineering (took me awhile to get the degree). I have been applying for jobs ever since. My previsious work experience has all been in retail. I have gotten eight interviews since I graduated from Verizon, TechData, Raytheon, CAE, Avionyx, Children Hope Hospital, New Horizon, and recently Spellex Corp. All the responses are basically the same. We like you but so-and-so has the technical experience we were looking for. In the beginning I was targeting Department of Defense companies but recently I’ve been going for anything I can get. I going to lose my job in retail because of a store closing in three weeks. Some of the things I did in school were C programming, Oracle (PL/SQL) programming, and ASIC chip design. I have retail management experience. I have heard alot of suggestions about doing volunteer work to get started and also going for temp-to-perm positions. I currently live in the Tampa area but have the possibility of moving to either the Atlanta or Sacremento area because of family. I welcome any and all suggestions.