SCJP2 has no value at UNC

I'm a SCJP2. I've been programming for about 2 years. I got into programming because there were no jobs in my science specialty in my area and I couldn't move.
I just finished my first job: a 2 1/2 month contract at the University of Chapel Hill at North Carolina (servlets, JSP, JDBC, middleware, web-based content management). While there my dept created a permanent staff position and asked me to apply. I did, but was rejected by UNC's Human Resources dept. They said I didn't meet the "minimum requirements" for the job. I pointed out that I had been doing the exact job as a contractor for the last several months and was about to deliver a product having thousands of lines of code and that the job was an entry level job. They examined it again and said with another six months of experience I could apply for the lowest position they have to offer (which is about four grades below my ability level). Now the contract is up, the product is out and I'm unemployed.
UNC calls me a "computer user" with 2 1/2 months experience. I got no credit for certification. All that matters is "professional experience." I've found no recruiter in my area who cares one bit about certification. Those that will talk to you require you to take other non-Sun tests (some of which are full of mistakes). Another recruiter said "experience gets the job--certification just increases pay."
MORAL: Stay away from UNC and don't thing that being certified will open in any doors for newcomers. Certification can't compete with experience for those who are just starting out (like me).

Hi Paul,
Sorry to read you had a bad experience

Just out of curiousity, you say you've been a programmer for two years but they only considered your 2 and 1/2 months contract employment with them. Didn't they take your other programming into account??
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Jane Griscti
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java� 2 Platform

Hello, Paul. Sorry to read about your misfortune, however, someone needs to tell them that the certification is worth a lot. Your average experience Java programmer with 1 - 2 experience probably wouldn't be able to clear the SCJP test without some serious study and some of them would still have their hands full. I guess they ignored education and previous programming experience among other things. Well, the way I see it is it's their loss.
Take care and I hope it works out,
Donald