Personally, I'd say go for the certs. If nothing else, it gives you some focus to your studies. It also shows a prospective employer that you have accomplished at least some basic level of expertise. The down side is that the market is still "sorta' flooded with other people that have done the same thing (studied, no "real" experience) ... and more-to-much-more (there are still CCIEs out there looking for a job).
Where I believe most new networking folks screw up is that they only study for the test. IMHO, you do much better if you "read & bleed" - work on studying the scope of the test .... but try to gain some depth to the knowledge by killing and fixing the machines, tech the concepts you're learning to someone - teaching is one of the best ways to learn. The reason I say that is that you present some point: the person you're instructing will ask "Why is this done like that?" - and if you don't know, you got another topic to research.... or perhaps work through the question together and try to figure it out, THEN do some research to see how accurate you are.
There's a fair amount of basic head-scratching in the beginning, learning one topic frequently gives you the basis of learning / understanding other topics or concepts. The more you gain basic understanding, the easier it becomes to figure out the harder stuff.
If you only study for the test, all you know are a bunch of disconnected facts that are frequently useless in the practical world.
For nearly evey job you apply for, one or more of the senior guys are going to sit down with you and ask questions, or present problems; they will not be multiple choice questions - they're going to be looking for basic understanding and troubleshooting skills. They're going to be looking for how well you can solve some typical prolems.
As far as getting experience, there are a number of volunteer roles where you can help, learn a little, and boost your resume. Places like churches, retirement communities, shelters, schools, etc. ANY hands-on in a "real world" organization will improve your chances of getting hired. If there's some "Mom & Pop" computer stores in your neighborhood, apply for a job there part-time ... regardless of the pay...regardless of the job; the experience is worth the price and the other technical types are usually able to give you some practical background.
Some places may even hire you "for barter;" you work so many hours and get some hardware or software in return. It's a good deal for them - they get cheap labor - and it's a good deal for you - you get real experience and maybe some new toys.
To pull this back to the topic: once you feel that you have some study and practical background that relates to a test, take the test. Doing brain dumps, crib notes, and boot camps may get you through the test, but you're still (frequently) useless in a "real world" job ... and that's easily discovered in the interview.
Another way to get to know the nuts & bolts of the system (computer, OS, application, or network) is to learn programming - any programming - (scripting, batch files, BASIC, C, whatever) that works with the basic system resources. Learning BIOS calls, TCP/IP functions, and Remote Procedure Calls will do alot for your understanding of how a system works. Much of routine system administration involves automating / programming / scripting the repetitive tasks.
Pardon the ramble. I've been in the industry twenty-something years, I've seen some well-trained idiots, I've seen some sparsely-trained natural-born techs, it's better to not know (but can figure it out or find it out) than to be able to pop out an answer you can't decide how to implement (or not know how it applies). Strive to learn as much as you can, not just one-answer-out-of-four. Get your hands on some systems any way your can.
.02
Scott