I'm reminded of the old microsoft certification hoops I was required to jump through for a previous job (I think I ended up with about 30 or so of the things and a load of letters to put after my name that I now cringe to think about, mainly because of how absurdly pleased with them I was at the time. HR departments and management were impressed by it, the people who worked at the coal face, not so much.
Be interesting to see how it turns out.
EDIT - and of course for things slightly more academic, I'd expect there to be not quite the same set of issues as there were with vendor qualifications (before someone points it out). Yes, I too would prefer to hire people who maintain an interest in learning over someone that didn't (I'm signed up for four of these things as soon as my MSc is out the way), so not intended as a derogatory comment.
Be interesting to see how it turns out.
EDIT - and of course for things slightly more academic, I'd expect there to be not quite the same set of issues as there were with vendor qualifications (before someone points it out). Yes, I too would prefer to hire people who maintain an interest in learning over someone that didn't (I'm signed up for four of these things as soon as my MSc is out the way), so not intended as a derogatory comment.