Certifications never hurt - it depends on your experience to back those up.

I'd keep working on things in your spare time while you're doing the job hunt, build up some work experience with the skills as you work towards certifications, so you can present it as a whole package to a potential employer. Otherwise, you might look to some like a paper-cert rather than someone who knows what they're doing.
And best of luck to you.
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Theodore Jonathan Casser
SCPJ2 and SCWCD
IBM Certified Specialist - WebSphere Application Server, Std. Ed, V3.5