Actually, my company is in the midst of looking for Senior
Java Developers and one of the things that will move a resume to the "call them" list is Sun Certification.
It won't guarantee you a job, but it will pretty much guarantee that we'll talk with you about it.
It is very difficult to guage someone's level of expertise from a resume, but certification tells us that you've got some basic knowledge of the subject. What's more, if you got it on your own vs. your company telling you to get certified then you get extra points for being a motivated person who doesn't just sit back and wait for things.
I can't tell you if other company's work this way, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were similar.
SCJP, SCJD, SCEA 5
Voted JavaOne Rock Star in 2010 and recognized as a Java Champion in 2020.
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" Agatha Heterodyne (Girl Genius)