Others have said it, but Step 1 through 5 is get certified. No question. When I was adding an assistant position many moons ago, I had a great candidate that I wanted, but was teaching at a private school because he had a performance degree. Was told that the only way they would consider him was if there was no certified candidate at all. I pointed out that one of the certified candidates (honestly we only had a few) was someone who had bounced around the area because he had a tendency to mess with the MS girls - never the official reason he left, always one of those 'resign and we won't press charges' type things. Asked the sup if I would have to hire that guy over the uncertified guy I wanted. The answer was, 'Yes'. Luckily we got someone else that was good, but not my first choice.

Get certified.