| You have to figure the costs of exams, those exams you listed cost anywhere from 150-250 bucks per attempt per individual test. Figure in the likelyhood that you will fail a couple no matter how prepared you are, these people are not your friends and they WANT you to fail their cert tests. That's going to be some serious cash in exam fees. I'm with McGraham on this one, unless your hookup wants you to have a varied resume like this, you need to focus on a particular segment of IT, the Cisco or the MCSE or whatever, and run with that. Others may have different advice but I find specialization is better.
If you live in the DC area it isn't hard to get on with government IT, but if it's not something you plan on doing after college I wouldn't really focus on it. Getting a clearance is a big deal and you're sometimes expected to make a commitment to any employer who is willing to help you get that.
I am not an expert on contracting, only been doing it for just over a year now, but the best advice I could give you is look out for #1. Your company is not your friend. Your customer is not your friend. They WILL fuck you if it benefits them, in only a little over a year and 6 years in the military before that working side by side with contractors, I have seen it happen again and again. |