I sometimes tend to think that these exams are merely good on paper!!!
At your office, it is only your performance (and your relation with your
manager
that matters .
SCJP 1.4 could be useful for freshers searching for a job, thats all!!!
The most important thing of all is, we never use all that we study from books(EL in
JSP for example) in office, so finally are effort goes down the drain!!! Your manager is never really bothered abt your certifications, but it is your day to day work and your way of handling work pressure is what matters the most!!!
I serious feel this is the practical situation!!!