I want to make sure I study the right cert in order to land a good full-time job.
I hate to burst your bubble, but having the cert won't get you that good job right off the bat. And if it does, you probably won't keep the job for long.
Having an MCDBA with no practical work experience in the field doesn't mean a while lot, except that you can study the material in a book and remember the information long enough to pass the exam.
If you are trying to break in to the IT field you should look into starting with a lower end position than a DBA position. Look to start out in the help desk or NOC. These positions will get you into the IT field, and you can use these positions to work with the DBAs and learn from them eventually moving into a junior level DBA position at the company.
Getting a cert and then going for the top end jobs does a disservice to you and to the rest of us that have the certs. It will burn the employer on hiring people with certs because they will think that everyone that has the cert has no actual experience. The Microsoft certificate programs are designed to show experience in the field working with production systems for a number of years (usually 1-2 years).
In order to get that good paying job you'll have to pay your dues in lower end positions. After a few years in the lower end positions if you've learned the platforms well enough you can work your way into the higher end positions. Personally it took me about 6-7 years of very hard work to get into the higher end positions. After that did I decide to go and get my certs. Having them doesn't do much for me, but not having them did not hurt me in the prior job searches at all.
Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)
--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)