Is it worth certifying oneself with technical certification like CCNP rather than just understanding the concepts covered in them?

I am a senior network engineer (L2) with 6 years of experience & preparing for CCNP R&S. I have been told that recruiters know that people who complete these certifications usually complete it using dumps. So most recruiters don't bother whether we have CCNP like certification or not. Rather they are concerned only about a candidate's knowledge. So my colleague advised me to study the concepts in CCNP papers but asked me to skip writing the CCNP exam. He said employers give importance to certification ONLY if we have completed CCIE lab exam as that is the ONLY exam that cannot be completed using dumps. So my question is how important is it to certify oneself with CCNP like certification? If i were to skip writing these exams & rather only concentrate on gaining knowledge covered in these certification, would it be okay or would i be doing myself a disservice?