I agree, if you're looking to work and not just program as a hobby, start with web projects. There's always a friend of a friend (or somebody on Craigslist) wit

I agree, if you're looking to work and not just program as a hobby, start with web projects. There's always a friend of a friend (or somebody on Craigslist) with a $1000 and an idea. Your effective hourly rate will be low, but you'll be learning and getting paid at the same time. You'll also find out whether you really want to be a programmer for hire, as it is often the case that the programming is the easy part while the clients are the hard part.