Gwyneth,
I acheived my first certification approx 13yrs ago in MCSE NT4. I once heard an IT magazine columnist say that it stood for 'Must Consult Someone Experienced'. There my be some truth in that, mybe there are people with little experience, who sucessfully
boot camp their way to a MCSE. However, I think most employers are aware that this can happen in a small percentage of cases and also look for comensurate experience. My personal experiences have been that my certifications, and I have MCSE's in Windows
and MCITPs in SQL, all gained by self-study, have been very valuable to my career in two ways. Firstly, the study process to gain certification has been extremely beneficial. Secondly, with two equally experienced cadidates, who equally present well at interview,
the one with the certifications is mostly to be sucessfull in getting the job. Indeed, during the initial phase of submitting CVs, those without certifications are likely to be weeded out, regardless of everything else. HR depts sometimes just don't have time
or knowledge to do it anyother way.
My advice would be to self-study, don't go the boot camp route, and get a test box to install what ever you're in studying, use VMs to set up a Domain, etc, and practice the various technologies in your product choice. Get real life experience, difficult
in some companies, you may have to move around every couple of years to get on and up.
Cost of books and exams is irrelevant compared to benefit of certification.
