Does anyone have Six Sigma certification? Is it worth it?

I'm seeing if my company will pay for me to do the Green Belt course. I work in process improvement, change management, strategic management, etc.

5/23/2016 1:26:35 PM

waste of time unless it's something that you know your current organization uses all the time. so few use it these days that it would be a waste of time if you were trying to get it for a better position elsewhere.

5/23/2016 2:24:52 PM

It can be a useful cert to move up, or change positions, but probably won't help you much in reality.
Green belt is a two day class and a test, or just taking the test after doing the review book.
The black belt is where you will see real benefit and concept understanding.
When I was searching for jobs a couple years ago, a lot said a green or black belt was a plus.

(My company will pay for it, and I share an office with a green belt. My former boss was a black belt trainer)

[Edited on May 23, 2016 at 8:17 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2016 8:16:35 PM

It doesn't hurt to get it. I'm all for continuous improvement. Since your work in a process improvement department, I'd say this should be part of your core skill set.


[Edited on May 24, 2016 at 9:02 AM. Reason : .]

5/24/2016 9:02:20 AM

Blech, Six Sigma. Whether it is useful depends on your actual industry. I work in software and firmware, and Six Sigma always felt completely bloated with process glut. Our company has the official project process based on it, but most software groups are trying to avoid as much of it as possible and have developed their own "leaner" methods. The only people who push it within our group are those up-and-coming go-get-ers who have no real world project experience (or are terrible at leading projects). So . . . the Dilbert Principle.

Six Sigma groups are pushing for ways to integrate the system into Agile/Scrum environments by tagging new versions as "Lean", but it just feels too little, too late. The term "Six Sigma" is completely anathema to everyone in my group who has used any version of it before. Maybe its better now, but we will not be giving it even a cursory look.

That being said, if you are specifically working in process improvement, maybe its OK for you. Learning it might help with your job. The process is still suited well for must-never-fail industries (aerospace).

As for me, I will never give any of those groups any sort of money for training.

[Edited on May 24, 2016 at 9:29 AM. Reason : ]

5/24/2016 9:29:07 AM

yeah right now my company is doing "Lean" certification so I was thinking of doing the intensive six sigma course to get a leg up since I'm in charge of all the process improvements, etc.

I think the Yellow Belt is a two day course. The Green belt is two weeks and is a few thousand dollars ($3800)

http://www.6sigma.us/product/raleigh-nc-2-week-green-belt/

The Black Belt course is a month and like $10k.

I just figure if it gets me out of the office for a couple of weeks and is a nice resume booster that they'll pay for and I may be able to use, then why not right?

5/24/2016 10:45:13 AM

You must either really enjoy process stuff or really hate your job, haha. That course sounds like torture.

5/25/2016 9:48:01 AM

I thought this was just scammy, buzzword driven, obviousness.

5/25/2016 10:03:57 AM

I'm glad I have PMs to do that shit for me.

5/25/2016 3:20:43 PM

We used to have a "process" person who ate this crap up. I am in a Test Engineer department, and "improving the process" always looked really good on end-of-year evaluations, so this person would push all these seminars and courses, some which the whole group had to attend. They all were buzzword circle-jerks just trying to get you to buy more products (seminars, books, software, etc).

Even with Agile/Scrum, there are tons of companies offering courses (i.e. Scrum Master "Certification"). These companies are just vultures trying to make a quick buck off of whatever the new fad is, even if that fad is to limit the overhead. They then try to sell courses by adding their overhead ("our unique spin") to it.

--

But if it looks good on your resume and being out of the office is better than being in the office, go for it .

5/25/2016 5:10:57 PM

This shit was the buzzword of the early 2000s. Statistics how does it work?

5/25/2016 7:07:21 PM

yeah it totally is but I figure you've still got older higher ups that eat it up when they see it on a resume or a performance evaluation.

5/26/2016 10:47:46 AM

So is this still relevant? Like useful relevent or like baby-boomer resume impresser relevant?

7/9/2017 11:26:46 PM

it depends on the company. some have a huge hard on for this stuff and others have never heard of it.

7/10/2017 12:53:01 AM

I'd say if they will pay for the green belt course, it can't hurt to take it. Getting exposure to it will help in the future, even if you don't use the info formally.

7/10/2017 8:38:15 AM

I ended up doing the full Lean/Kaizen program since it was paid for. I think Six Sigma is definitely more recognizable brand to the boomer generation like you said. Either approach is somewhat limited in application in my opinion. I think in industrial/manufacturing types of settings or maybe in healthcare where you're physically moving people/resources around, it can be beneficial but a lot of it is really gimmicky and just putting a fancy name to things that are common sense.

I'd rather have spent the time getting a PMP in retrospect, but it's whatever.

7/10/2017 9:40:41 AM

I got certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. I should have got my green belt.

I put it on my resume because it looks good. That's all I have used it for.

[Edited on July 16, 2017 at 3:40 PM. Reason : The government paid for it. woo]

7/16/2017 3:39:54 PM

Quote :

"baby-boomer resume impresser relevant"

most certifications are

8/12/2017 7:16:06 PM

I work in manufacturing and I actively avoid six sigma. I don't want it on my resume because i don't want to have to do that horseshit for a living.

I'm not saying its not useful, Id just rather not have to bother with it. With that said, its most useful when you are trying to eek out ever so slight improvement from a process that is running fairly well to begin with.

9/27/2017 10:42:22 PM

eke

9/28/2017 12:03:48 AM

10/5/2017 9:23:28 AM

Six sigma is worth it if your company is run by dude-bros and chick-bros that don’t know what you are actually doing so they request a third party to certify that you are better than them at being organized and smart and they will pay you for it.

Otherwise....

[Edited on October 25, 2017 at 7:44 PM. Reason : .]

10/25/2017 7:43:48 PM