My advice.. Find an entry level job doing tech support, help desk, anything computer related.. Make sure it's in the field of choice so it looks like you have a career focus.. Then, decide if getting some certs would be beneficial to you. If you want to be a Novell guy, CNE is good. Otherwise it's a waste of time. If you want CNE, start with CNA.. it's part of the CNE process. Once you've gotten some experience, and hopefully you've gotten some certs, go look around for a better gig. Repeat this process several times since it takes work to move up into a position that pays a lot and is something you actually enjoy.
In my opinion, certs are nice but experience is everything. Certs just mean that you hopefully did some training and memorized some terminology out of a book. But nothing compares to hands on down and dirty experience. Certs will help you get in the door, but it doesn't make you good.
If you really do want to be a novell guy, along with CNE, go to some Novell ATT classes. They are the best. Much better than CNE courses because they talk about real world problems and solutions and how to implement the technology.
Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
