I would agree with Brandie in that's it's experience you'll want after getting a cert. Volunteer to get that experience under the belt even if it's not strictly database work.

My career path evolved into a dba from a security guard through volunteering to work in an old dBase database for the small firm, then once I could say I had some pc experience on my resume, into several help desk and system administration jobs for progressively bigger and bigger firms, including a software company we all know. And while I didn't move directly into a dba role in my current firm until after I was hired as a system administrator, I volunteered for the opportunity to be a dba when it became available and had the experience on my resume to back it up.