SS, in my company I get 3-4 emails every week from people who have done the academic side and need to come in to get the hands-on experience. Many of them offer to work for free, but that is no advantage. In a commercial aviation maintenance environment it's not the sort of industry where you can gain any advantage from novices working for free, and it takes your experienced guys off the job as n00bs have to be closely supervised and instructed.
I'd hazard a guess going into a 145 environment without prior hands-on experience hoping to get the experience up to engineer standard is pretty much a non-starter anywhere. In your position I'd suggest going with the bottom level entry route with an agency and study while you are gaining experience. Once you are an established connie, as long as you don't mind going where the work is - which may not be the best parts of the world - you won't be short of work. To get on the bottom rung you wil still need to demonstrate some background/aptitude so maybe offer to help out at a local GA club (if you have PPL you're not entirely ignorant!) or museum.