I agree
I agree that:
a) you should take the certs to bolster your real-world / on the job experience.
b) that a lot of people with degrees or certs have wound up being useless or "over educated.
I have seen a large number of people who were book smart and could recite the microsoft answer from the test, but couldn't do a lick of troubleshooting even with that behind them.
I have also taken your path - I got in on the ground floor with no experience, no training and trained myself. I think to a certain extent that troubleshooting is a skill or an aptitude. It is very difficult to teach / train a poor troubleshooter and make them better.
I've taken the certifications (MCSE) and it really added to my knowledge of how things were "supposed to" work, and made me a much better troubleshooter.
I would recommend certification as it should add to your marketability. There are many companies where it will be a requirement for the job, and you do not want to shut yourself out of those opportunities. It will allow you to compete with people of similar skill sets who will have the paper to "prove it". And as we are probably on our way to a tougher job market, any extra creds you have will help you get what you want.
