Get Certified!
Marc from the Public Sector Developer team shares the following:
It's been a long time since I have looked at certifications. The last tests I took were for my VB6 based MCSD and SQL 2000. Recently, a customer asked me for advice about getting the MCPD certification. Since it's been a while, I surfed around a bit and found the following links that might be helpful:
Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)
I've been told by one of my teammates, specifically for the MCPD: Web Developer certification, that MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-536, 70-528, 70-547): Microsoft .NET Framework Web Developer Core Requirements is pretty good.
-Marc
Talk to 10 different people, and you'll probably get 10 different opinions regarding the value of certifications for developers. Certainly it's true that having a certification won't magically make you a good developer.
That said, back in the day, I used certification as a way to get my foot in the door when I made the transition from my first career in technical theatre (set construction, lighting, etc.) into the development world. When viewed as a tool for demonstrating at least a basic knowledge of a given subject, certification can be very useful, IMO. The important part is not making more of certifications than is justified.
Public Sector Developer Weblog : Becoming a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)