This applies to the real world as well - my career path took me solidly into computer networking and server configuration despite my EE degree. There are all sorts of certification tests from various systems vendors but so many of them are nothing more than money makers - I refuse to buy in, and it's taken an awfully long time to stop being hassled by my bosses about it. Partly because the vendors will hold it over a partner's head that you need people who have passed these tests on staff - oh and it doesn't matter if one person has passed the tests for say 3 different products, you can only count that person for one of them. These tests are absolutely ridiculous, and no reference materials can be used. This is so utterly ridiculous I don't think it even needs explaining. In the real world, if I am confronted with an error code I don't know off the tp of my head, I look it up. If I'm having trouble recalling the exact syntax of a command I haven't used in months, I look it up. The best part - I've been working in particular with Microsoft Exchange since the beginning, and even Microsoft Mail prior to that. Hundreds upon hundreds of successful installs over the years. I did go and take the one exam, just to make my boss happy. And promptly failed it. Half the test asked questions about product features that we NEVER deployed for any clients, be they 10 person offices or 5000 employees big. Another time, years go, we got an emergency call to go to this new client. They had replaced pretty much the entire IT staff with new people and needed help installing an off the shelf backup program. Upon arrival, I sat down with the new head server admin, who had his cube walls plastered with every certification under the sun. A= in various forms, tons of Microsoft ones, etc. We discussed my background, at that point some 20 years in the industry. After which he says, in a very condescending tone "Oh, you're not an MCSE?" To which I WANTED to reply, no, and you are the prime example why - you have all those certs and you can't figure this out and need us to do it for you. I've run into so many people who have pieces of paper that sya they know this or that, but their actual skill level is that of someone who's never even seen the product before. I have a coworker like that who is at least improving with time - not sure why he even got into computers but most of the time he was used to triage incoming support calls because it was beyond his skill set to solve pretty much nothing. Out asic workstation work dried up completely - computers are so cheap no one seems to bother to fix them any more, they just get a new one. We had a second guy at this same level. They both tried to gain advanced certification, the first guy managed to pass all his tests, the second guy did not and was let go. Despite being certified, the first guy still isn't fully up to speed a year later. He handles some things, but almost always ends up asking one of us more experienced guys dozens of questions. In itself this is not bad, you won't learn anything if you don't ask, but often it's basic troubleshooting - this is where you need experience and not certifications, certification tests can't teach that stuff.
I like to say that a BS in a technical fieled like EE doesn't really teach you a whole lot of practical knowledge - it teaches you how to learn.