Re: for those who work at, Cox // Verizon FiOS
Find a job at a webhost, or find a job as an assistant/tech to a network admin/sys admin..
I'm an MSFT Network Admin/Eng (MCSE, CCNP) and I know a ton of BHN(RR)/Verizon admins, and they hate the place because you're forced to work on proprietary systems.
Half of them are video admins. Aka - your experience won't mean shit outside of BHN.
Most of the BHN infrastructure is Solaris/AIX, which is good to know if you want a system admin position at major companies (banks, etc), but noone will let you touch those systems until you've proven Unix/BSD/Linux administration abilities.
My first "tech" job was in the POS - point of sale - proprietary software industry doing call center work. I was 19 then, am 22 now, and make almost triple what I made then.