It's of course the same case with all jobs. They all ask for experience of some sorts.
But you can guarantee that doing your certifications will proove to your employers that you are at a certain level with
Java.
Once you've completed your certs (or do it during), try concentrating on learning leading frameworks such as Spring, Hibernate etc. to create your own projects. Showing your off your own work could be very beneficial if you lack commercial experience. You're also learning these frameworks too which you'll need to because not many (if any) companies develop web applications with just servlet/JSPs.