Ive just finished my first year at uni doing a degree in Ethical Hacking. Summer has come around and im finding it difficult to find an IT related job over the summer period. I could take a job waitering/washing dishes, etc... however want to leave doing that until I have no other option. I have funds to last about another month without working at a push.

Theres only two companies that I have found in my local area that specialise in security, I have rang them and sent my CV however they keep telling me they will contact me back but never get a call.

I was wondering if it would be possible to freelance? Has any one done this? How did you go about it? Should I just contact small businesses in the area and offer my services?

I have done a couple of commercial pen tests at uni the rest of my experience/knowledge is self taught. What do you think my chances are?

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

I originally rang them on Thursday and they seemed very enthusiastic. They said they would ring me on Friday for a chat however never got a call. I rang this afternoon and the guy I spoke to last week was apparently busy. They said they would ring back today however its not looking hopeful as they close at 5pm and its 3:30pm already. 

IMHO, without more formal work experience the freelance thing may not really work out.  There are a lot of issues which may come up, that you would be unable to handle.  The main one that comes to mind is legal issues.  Do you have the proper legal contracts to cover your butt if a situation goes downhill?  What happens if you bring down a production server?  What happens if you get scope-creap, and the project gets completely out of your hands/control.

I like the previous recommendation of working for cheap/free around town to build up some connections/experience.

I would recommend looking up some security related user groups in your area.  For example, ISSA, OWSP, Infragard, or even ISACA.  You can attend any one of these meetings as a guest, without paying for membership.  It is a good way to network and connect.  Also, check with your university to see if they sponsor any security/computer related groups.

Also, it may not be the BEST approach, but you can send your resume to your local headhunters/staffing agencies.

Good luck!

I have forgotten about the legal aspects too. It is really something which should be worked out carefully together with a good lawyer as I have seen unfortunately two people who had similar thoughts as you and got from a company sued because by accident a service got disabled for some time which was not intended to.
Maybe this is something which won't be crucial by churches or similar but just to be sure I wouldn't risk anything. Once you have a good setup you can use it anyway for any later work or build up on it.

For me it was a combination of networking and training.  I was networking, then my boss offered to pay for GPEN.  I jumped on that....

After I had that for a few moths, a local company asked me to freelance with them as a side job doing pentesting.  This has led to other stuff as well.

So, keep learning and get an IT operations job.  Meanwhile network and the opportunities will sneak up and surprise you.  Just jumping into the field after a year of schooling will probably be difficult to impossible.  Building a resume and professional contacts will get you further in the long run.