Some people debate the benefits of earning developer certifications. While they are obviously important in the Systems Engineer field, where MCSEs and Cicso certifications are often job prerequisites, the common wisdom for Developers seems to be that “what you have done” counts way more than simply “passing a certification exam”.

The anecdotal evidence gathered from my personal experience is overwhelmingly in favour of certification, as far as I'm concerned. I have been Microsoft certified for 6 years, and have:

• landed at least one job where having an MCSD certification was a prerequisite to even apply;
• gotten into the book industry on the back of my certification; and
• found situations where interviewers/employers mention it favorably - “Ah, I see you're certified. That's good!”.

I am not out to convince people that everyone needs to become certified, or that certification is the Holy Grail that will allow you to find work faster and easier than anyone else. I just want to say that I, personally, find that Microsoft certification is one element that has helped drive my career forward.

(See Eric Sink's excellent article on Career Calculus, to understand the correlation between constant learning and career development.)

As some of you know, I have been maintaining a MCSD/MCAD Certification Wiki elsewhere on this site. As I gather info and links, I update the pages of the Wiki. Since I am currently studying for the 70-316 exam (officially called Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET), that is the section of the Wiki with the most information.

Some people study for an exam, and then wait until they are 100% ready to book it. I can't work like that. I prefer to book the exam the moment I decide to go for it, and schedule it for a date 3 or 4 weeks in the future. Then I study like crazy and take the exam. Booking the exam first gives me a definitive deadline to work towards, ensuring I devote the time necessary to pass. 

Of course, if I honestly felt I was not ready a few days before the scheduled exam date, I could always call Prometric and reschedule the test... there's no charge for that. I've had to do that once or twice when my work schedule did not permit me to take time off to study for or take the test.