I also took about 1 month to prepare for each exam. If you are getting certified for certification sake, yes you can probably get enough to scrape by each test if you study for a week. If you want to learn and UNDERSTAND the material, it takes time.

I believe that being certified will soon hold no weight with potential employers. Employers know that there are dozens of certification mills out there just churning out OCP's, MCSE's, CCIE's, CCNA's, etc. As a matter of fact, I heard on the radio this morning that you can "... become an MCSE in 10 weeks even if you have never worked in IT." Remember the Netware CNE/CNA craze in the early 90's? Those certifications are worthless today.