PS: Without starting a holy flame war, how do you all feel about the RHCE exam? Other preferred exams? I know exams mean very little in comparison to experience, but I feel without much "real world" experience on Linux it may be a good start at getting the first gig...
The RHCE exam is the only one that tries to test your mettle via actual practical tests. On this count I personally perfer it to the LPI exams which can be overcome by a 'brain dump' without any actual work experience. That is besides the fact that sometimes the LPI has faulty concepts behind some of the questions such as the stupid 'How much swap should you have?' of which the LPI correct answer is double your RAM.
You are correct that exams mean very little in comparison to experience. The RHCE will cover the basics of administration but real life will usually call for more knowledge and skill than what is tested. That goes even more strongly for the dumb LPI. Coupled with the fact that to get the LPI level 2 certificate actually costs more than trying to get the RHCE assuming success on all tests kind of makes it a no brainer.
Then again, with your eight years of experience, do you really think that a professional certificate will make a difference? Any reasonable manager who understands Unix/Linux should have no problem hiring you on that basis.