This is a very serious post. I am a Cell Technician (Cellular Base Station Tech) who is completely bored because my job has basically evolved into a Field Secretary position. I love working on T1's and troubleshooting equipment outages and so on and so forth but my job has become VERY administrative. I love computer/configuration work and troubleshooting.

I am at a point in my life where if I am going to make a change (and I NEED to) it needs to happen very soon! Here is my dilemma:

I have taken MANY career aptitude tests and they always point to Technology and Food.

I spent 5 years in the Marine Corps as an Avionics Technician and the last 7 years in the Wireless/Telecom industry. I am good at what I do but I want more.

I have been cooking since I was 9 and I am now 30...I have a lot of unprofessional food experience. Cooking is one of my passions.

I have also been into computers since I was 10 and everyone I meet says I am a natural. I kick ass on anything in my current position involving computers or CLI. It is my thing!

Cooking doesn't pay unless you know a guy!

IT does!

I am trying to get into something I love to do instead of what pays the bills.

What would be the best path for me to crossover from what I do now to a job in the IT industry (especially VoIP or UNIX)?

Are there any quick certs I can get now (with my GI Bill) that I can use to make about 55k/per year or more with my experience and the new certs? Is there a possibility of making more with my experience and suggested certs?

I would like to make this transition in a years time so quick certs are key!

I have worked on Sun Solaris Workstations and CLI while I worked on Nortel Cell Sites so I am semi-familiar with UNIX.

I have experience with the following (which may or may not help):

Field Experience:

- T1/T3 Testing, Troubleshooting and Installation
- TCP/IP
- CLI
- UNIX CLI
- Lucent CLI
- Electronic Troubleshooting
- Lucent Routers
- Xng
- Remedy
- Help Desk

Wireless/Telecomm Certs:

Lucent BTS
Nortel BTS
Nokia BTS
Carrier Access MUX
Anritsu Cell Master
T-Berd Test Sets (T1/T3)
Harris Microwave Radios
Alcatel Microwave Radios


ANy help at all in this area would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks so much!!

It seems like your best bet would be to get into networking instead of Unix. Either should be doable, but your experience would be worth more applying for network admin jobs than it would for Unix jobs. Check into Cicso classes/certs to see if that appeals to you.

you should think about what you like most --- dealing with networking issues or dealing with computer issues ...

if you prefer the networking side, do as rhfromm suggested ...

if you prefer the computer side, look into getting certified in solaris, hp-ux or aix ... linux is also good but the majority of corporate it environments require that you know one of the three main unix flavors i mentioned ...

or you can combine both ... get certified in both a unix flavor and in networking ... this way you have more to bring to the table when you talk to recruiters ...

good luck!