I have 19 years of experience. Started as a Network Technician, then Network Admin, then Linux Desktop Admin, Linux Admin, DevOps Engineer and now an SRE since last 5 years. Did I studied for any certification? Yes. To learn things. Did I gave the exams? No, never, nor will I.

Knowledge and troubleshooting is what matters. You may have lot of work experience to show but without knowledge it doesn't matter. Degrees don't matter either.