I have yet to interview a good MCSE. With the advent of training software, exam cram books and hype surrounding these MS certs, it seems that there has been an influx of paper MCSEs.
My friend recently got his MCSE. The last test he passed was the II4 test. So, a week after he passed it, I asked him what a 404 error was. He had no idea. This is indicative of a lot of the MCSEs I have interview for positions in my group. A lot of them can pass the test, but because they do not use it all the time, they simply lack knowledge. IS managers have figured this out and aren't necessarily interested in paper certs as much as they used to be.
I have also worked with people who have computer science degrees that didn't know crap about computers. They could barely code (half of them got stuck at pointers but somehow got their degree) and were pretty non productive in the work place. So, a degree isn't necessarily THE answer.
This what I have seen as a great method for landing a job. It takes time, but it works.
Really, you need to get an entry level job - just to get your foot in the door. I'd recommend either tech support, help desk or entry level QA. All of these jobs are pretty easy to land and will help you learn quite a bit about computers (especially QA if you get the chance to work with engineering).
During all of this, I would recommend putting together a home network of some kind and going crazy with it. Because.. if you can get into an interview and tell them what kind of stuff you have done, all the home networking craziness, they will usually be impressed. If you want to get your MCSE and CCNA, this would also be a great chance to go and do it. I wouldn't recommend trying to get an IT job right off the bat with no work experience and just certs - it usually doesn't happen.
