Welcome, to the site and to the SQL Server community.

Microsoft SQL Server certifications are a great way to get ramped up as the content covers the entire data platform. Studying for the certifications is actually more valuable than the certification itself, in my opinion. If you have the certification you may get the interview but if you happened to memorize and guess your way to passing the certification exam but do not actually understand the material you won't last long in the job, even if you do manage to make it through the interview process and land a job.

If you can work for free (or a reduced rate from an open market job) then summer internship season is coming up. Internships are a great way to get real-world experience, typically with a lower level of pressure on you to deliver, while building the first entry on your resume in the field you want to go into. Check with your local university or check the job sites of some of the big employers in your area.

I would also suggest hanging out on this site. Check out the Stairways Series[/url]. Subscribe to the daily newsletter and read the contained articles. Try answering the Question of the Day every day. Read the problems on these Forums that people doing this for a living are trying to solve. Get a copy of SQL Server Developer Edition and install it on your machine so you can write SQL locally and test things out. Read the solutions people post on the Forums and try them out for yourself. Before long you'll be coming up with solutions too, helping yourself and others get better in the process. Also, use the Forums to ask questions. As long as you show effort and abide by some basic web-etiquette when posting, the regulars in these Forums will be extremely helpful.