Simon's advice for young people
Simon Ritter: You have to find a tech to start with. You need to identify a tech that you are interested in and that you can be passionate about. Then, you need to start making sure that you know as much as possible about that tech and building up experience in it.
One of the things that I always say to people, especially when I talk to students, is that a great way of building up experience in something, without necessarily having to get a job (because again, you have the chicken or the egg problem), is open source.
Contribute to open-source projects and get involved. It's a fantastic way of showing a prospective employer, or a prospective conference, that you know what you're talking about. If there's a subject you're interested in and you want to present on it, get involved in some open-source project. Contributing to that project, and becoming known in that project, will help when people look at your background...