I agree with Black, There are two many paper certified engineers in the business. I for one have taken and passed the MCSE for W2K, but had been installing and troubleshooting Windows boxes since Windows 3.1. I though having the certification would help me move into a network admin type position. Basically a waste of money, having the cert. didn't improve my chances at all. Of course, Microsoft keeps sending me mail about upgrading my cert to W2K3, but so far have declined the privilege.
I think the certifications would be better, if the testing forced the applicant to actually prove their skills on real equipment with real time constraints.
JMHO
Darin