Ludoggg,
I think you listed several like - internship
Cisco Graduate and Intern Career Programs -
or volunteer - this would be harder because many places might not want non-paid people around the infastructure for security reasons! Might try a school or a non-profit in your area.
You can also do like lots of us and build your own home lab with equipment off eBay - I wish I still had the link but I saw a story about a 3 time CCIE who had about $50,000 of equipment in his basement to practice and demo what he consults on!
Hands on experience is hands on experience - even if it is in your own lab - and I do not mean just getting 1 or 2 2500 routers
I am lucky I have lots of routers and switches that I take care of at work for a Cisco Network Academy at a college. But I also have a complex "home" network of routers/switches/firewalls/servers and PCs. My Internet connection is through that setup and all 11 computers/servers on 4 seperate networks in my home can talk to each other and access the Internet.
If you get the hands on practice - you will at very least be able to "talk the talk" and that might be all you need with your certs and other job experience to get in the door.
You also did not say what your education is - you might look at an AS or BS in networking or network security - many colleges are part of Cisco's Network Academy system and you would be able to get lots of hands on as well as work towards a degree - that will not hurt in the long run !
Hope this helps!
E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +
