A DBA position is usually the last technical position of a much larger IT career.
Certifications are good in two senses, #1 You get to learn the general topics you are supposed to master, don't expect the certification per-se to do that for you and, #2 You show to prospective employers that you are serious enough to inverst time and treasure on it. Also, when hiring for an entry level position certifications might be the tie breaker that puts your resume on top.
Practice, build your own home lab, get a job as a sql developer, show interest, ask for dba related responsibilities.
Hope this helps.
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Pablo (Paul) Berzukov
Author of Understanding Database Administration available at Amazon and other bookstores.
Disclaimer: Advice is provided to the best of my knowledge but no implicit or explicit warranties are provided. Since the advisor explicitly encourages testing any and all suggestions on a test non-production environment advisor should not held liable or responsible for any actions taken based on the given advice.