You are correct, HR people look for the Certifications, mostly due to the fact that quite a few HR types haven't a clue as to what constitutes an "IT" person. The certs are a simple way to be able to tell their boss that candidate X has this cert and that cert and is qualified. I wonder if the IT manager making the job description dummies down the job requirements so the HR people can figure it out. Would you expect an HR person to be able to determine if a candidate can properly prepare an NT 4 domain for upgrade to 2003? Of course not. The HR person is asked instead to look for an MCSE, or network + or whatever, because anyone w/ a 4th grade education can see and understand that on a resume.