I have the entry level ones for Azure/AWS. Working associate ones for AWS currently. It's mostly me trying to fill in my knowledge gaps but do these mean anything without production experience?
I think we are talking about different things: first you need to remove the blockers from HR when screening your CV. Certifications will help.
Once you get the interviews you have to train yourself to pass the technical tests, and that’s a different story.
If you want to get real technical expertise about a hot topic and have a good technical interview, I would start collaborating with an open source project that matters in the subject you want to shine.
Regarding “production experience”, I can guarantee you that most developers in large organizations even with a DevOps philosophy they don’t really have production experience (because they are not allowed to interact directly with the environments).
Also be honest with the seniority of the role you are going to apply. Production responsibilities are strongly linked to senior roles.