Working for a company will give you the ability to make contacts and also get mentored from some senior developers. In my first I.T. job I was mentored by a guy

Working for a company will give you the ability to make contacts and also get mentored from some senior developers. In my first I.T. job I was mentored by a guy who had been writing software for 20 years, and in 3 months with him I gained more skills than I did through education, and also some practical advice that still echos in my mind daily. Working for an existing startup would be OK too -- though you might not necessarily get the mentor in that case. I wouldn't recommend you start your own startup though -- because you're still new and the cost of learning would be a cost _you_ would bare ... pick up some real world skills for a year or two, then jump