In my quest to add some credibility to my resume (I've been working in the industry for approaching ten years now, and have almost no certifications or "marks of note" to wave at someone, although it's never really proven to be much of a hindrance), I finally checked out BrainBench after some prodding. I gave it a whirl with the free Linux Administration (General) exam; on the first try, without preparation, I managed to get 4.82 out of 5, which apparently qualifies me as a "Master" (the results page proclaims, "Scored higher than 99 percent of all previous test takers"). Cool, although I'll take that with a large grain of salt. Hmm, looks like there's a free test for ksh scripting too; I'll have to take a whack at that one too when I have a little more time handy.
D-day for my co-worker; he submits the resignation today (he signed on the dotted line for the other company already, and they're itching to get him on-board as soon as humanly possible). Still mixed feelings about it, but it's still an excellent move for him; I wish him the best of luck.