Experience and certs can be acquired concurrently, pick certs up for the technologies you work with and do the reading/hands on rather than braindumping it. You'll learn and make your C.V. look better. If nothing else a lot of shops need certified people to maintain partner agreements and if they've had a couple people leave then that CCNA or MCITP might push you into a job over the more experienced non-certified applicant, or into an interview for a position with 1000 applicants. Just don't take advanced certs for techs you have no experience with, these paper certs make job-hunting difficult for everyone and waste time for recruiters and hiring managers. Some certification programs are quite challenging and intellectually rewarding and make a candidate stand out from the crowd.
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Experience and certs can be acquired concurrently, pick certs up for the technologies you work with and do the reading/hands on rather than braindumping it. You'll learn and make your C.V. look better. If nothing else a lot of shops need certified people to maintain partner agreements and if they've had a couple people leave then that CCNA or MCITP might push you into a job over the more experienced non-certified applicant, or into an interview for a position with 1000 applicants. Just don't take advanced certs for techs you have no experience with, these paper certs make job-hunting difficult for everyone and waste time for recruiters and hiring managers. Some certification programs are quite challenging and intellectually rewarding and make a candidate stand out from the crowd.