i agree with justin, in that it is who you know. i have the same education as him, and admittedly know much less about IT.
i got lucky with a resume actually getting read somewhere, passed the phone interview… and then told my dearest mother about the actual interview. well, she knew some of the influential people, and i get the job making actually more than they advertised to start.
don’t get me wrong, i still had a great interview and was easily qualified… but unless you have an inside edge, sometimes it’s hard to beat out 25 or 50 or 500 other people.