[coryl]

Here's how I hustled my way into an internship with a hot analytics startup (as a non-technical, learning PHP like you. Business degree, almost 2 years after graduating). I emailed the co-founder and told him about my interest in the industry and that I'd be interested in working for free. That was enough to get a skype chat, and a meeting down at the office. Granted, that while I had no work experience, I had co-founded a short list of cool projects with my friend and programming partner, of which had tons of coverage and users. Even so, I was actually rejected until they had a change of fortune and began on a growth spree. I started last month as a marketing intern and I'm learning tons and tons of good stuff that I otherwise would have never come across (one of the benefits of working with smarter, more networked, more resourceful people than you). I only get paid $2k/month, but I get free breakfast everyday and some other perks.

I figure that even if I can't get a job or stay with this company, I can parlay this internship into another one until I'm where I'd like to be.

So for you:

1) Build interesting projects which you can learn from. Or join someone's project. Do something crazy, get press, get users, have something concrete to show for it.

2) Hustle startups in industries that interest you. Not sure if working for free is actually a good idea, but at the right places, what you learn can be very worthwhile.

Gooood luck!