Way back in the days of yore, I decided to get my A+/Network+ certs strictly for "foot in the door" purposes. The school I went to had a practice exam with a guarantee that if you achieved a certain score but failed the actual exam, they would pay for your re-test. Took the practice exam several times and managed to achieve the score I needed.

When I finished one of the actual exams I thought to myself, "Where were all the hard questions?" The practice exam was WAY tougher than the actual and I learned a lot more there.

Like a lot of folks, I've been ambivalent at best about certs. I attended SQL Saturday in DC a few weeks ago and it seemed I learned a whole lot more there, even though the sessions can only present so much content at best (off-topic a bit: The highlight of the day was attending a session on execution plans where we read off excerpts from Grant's book on the subject - with Grant sitting in the second row :hehe:).

Still and all, I kind of like the idea working toward a specific exam just for the learning value in that area. Something to think about.