Rob Farley posted an entry on how skills are evaluated at both the CV and interview stages when employers are recruiting staff. I agree that having certifications increases the odds that you know more than the next guy, but I think the phrase “Use it, or lose it!” certainly applies. Certification coupled with real-world experience is definitely a plus.
Several months ago, I spoke with guys in an IT department and they actually thought it was a minus when candidates had a MCSE due to the fact there are so many BrainDumps out there. They had interviewed a large number of candidates and a pattern emerged that a large proportion of people were getting the MCSE but had very little on the job experience. I know Microsoft is making headway against the dumpsters by steering towards sandbox exams where you actually have to perform some task in a ‘live’ simulated environment. This is a much more realistic way of accessing skill levels and much harder to ‘cram’ for.
Earlier this year (and the end of last year) I participated in the SQL Server 2005 beta exam program. The interesting thing about the beta exams is that there is very little information around at the time you take them.
As an aside, I’ve attended a couple of interviews recently and not one of the interviewers asked me about my MCSD and MCITP SQL Server 2005 certifications, or wanted to see any proof of passing. But I still think they are worth having.