I agree with what chrisj said above. And I know this thread is old and I've probably read it already - and definitely already seen this debate here and elsewere. I'm sure someone has already said this but the bottom line is that there are some employers that value certifications and some that don't. Most show that you can take a test and have some sort of knowledge about the subject at hand. You might as well collect a few for the employers that will value them.

On another note....

Have you ever been to one of the computertraining.com seminars? I went to the informational deal before I earned my MCSE just to see what they were all about - and I definitely never had any intention of giving them $25K for training. You meet one-on-one with a 'recruiter,' then sit in a group while someone gives a lecture about how great the program is, and then go back one-on-one so they can rope you in and get your money or give you a loan. I told them I had no problem spending $300 on books instead and learning on my own :-p The sad part is that when I asked her who their main market was she said "career changers." So they get these people in there that really have no clue about anything, other than they heard the radio ad, and think they can make a change just like that to IT. I guess it's rare that the students even get to the MCSE, most only pass one or two exams during the 6-month training.

That part is very true. I updated my resume in 2009, and pretty much stopped getting calls or emails even from the head hunters doing searches on the "Job Boards". I'd send my resume out left and right but never got called back.

I tend to update my resume every 6 months at the very least. Anyway after the first 2010 update I started to get calls again.

Word auto-corrected Virtualization with Vitalization. I only found out last September or so, because a recruiter  recognized my name and had an old copy of my resume saved.

Yeah,

I am writting the CISSP exam on April 2nd just because everyone is asking for it...