I've been IT for 10 years, and I have a binder full of certifications. I've earned about 10 different certs over the course of my career. They have never helped me get a job or negotiate a single penny out of an employer. My experience has been that the hiring manager already knows exactly what he is going to pay whoever he hires. The only time certs have been of any use is when I've worked for VARs/Solution Providers who need to have you certified to keep their reseller status.
Having an MCSE and several years worth of UNIX experience is like having 20 gauge shells and a 12 gauge shotgun. Go get you a Red Hat or SuSE Linux certification if you feel like you HAVE to be certified.
Certs that I've had at one time or another:
MCP - Windows NT Server
ADSM Certified Implementation Specialist
Exabyte Certified Systems Engineer (that one was really worth the time and effort to get
)
IBM Certified SAN Specialist
Legatto Networker Certified System Administrator (another real useful one
)
EMC Certified Administrator - DR Specialist
AIX Certified System Administrator