Do civilian certifications help you get a job?

Good for you and utilize fully those education benefits.  In the state of NC and other states they are going to require not only a high school diploma, plus a work first certification.   Those certifications will test all aspects of your skills and rate them from like 1 to 7.   It is an employers market right now and I do not see that changing.

Your local employment office will also offer free classes and many will give you a leg up on other people.  As I see it, these will be as standard-place as a DL, and social security card.

Any more than that,  cannot be bad.  It will be very competitive.

Major, the cornerstone is tying their current world of work with their future world of work. In my experience, there is a ton of very personal mentoring with individual members to help them identify what their life's expectations are, and then demonstrate how what they do now changes what they do later. This is very common in the maritime industries where there are military (Navy/USCG) education tracks that parallel civilian certification requirements.

It's also helpful if there is some structure program (inside or outside the military) that guides them toward something tangible. Particularly with some of our younger service members, they may need to see gains quickly early on to keep them interested. Several short term training projects that lead to a couple of small accomplishments/certifications work better than trying to undertake one large professional license. For instance in the commercial maritime environment, it is possible to earn a "Six Pack" license (small boats) before earning an unlimited tonnage captain's certificate.