Thought I'd chime in and share my perspective. I agree with the other posters above me that the best way to start out is to do some freelance work, build up a base of one or two clients, create websites for fun and use the available tools at your disposal, and meet people who might need someone who can do the job that they can't do. Working for free for a charity does help your resume and can lead to a job offer. After I graduated from uni, I didn't really end up working in a designer position till years later and went off at a tangent because the competition was very fierce so I ended up doing freelance on the side while working in a job that has nothing to do with my major. One cool thing about my experience is that although I worked in a job that has no use of my technical and design skills, I ended up doing this and that for staff at work, going out of my way to assist others, and they took notice of my technical and problem solving skills. Finally, 4 years later of patience and diligence to the company I work for, they decided to create a new position just for me and got promoted to a job that I love now, doing all kinds of marketing, communication design, web development & design, public relations and strategy for the company. I got promoted to a director position. My patience and loyalty paid off. The main reasons why I continue working here are the work environment which is awesome, friendly staff, great benefits, and flexible time off that includes up to 5 weeks of paid vacation each year.