Help me decide! Six Sigma Yellow Belt or Green Belt (or even Black Belt) ???

One of the most common kinds of questions that I get are around which belt someone should apply for. I can understand this; there’s a lot to learn, it takes time and resources to do so, and people want to know they are making the right choice.

Here, Dan V, asks:

I’m interested in either the Six Sigma Yellow or Green belt certification, by end of 2019.  I’m new to Six Sigma but have been in quality improvement roles for 4 years now and have some of the basics down-just not sure if Yellow would be best or if I’d be best challenged going for Green belt right away.

Dan V.

Thanks for writing to me. I get this question a lot. Here are my thoughts on deciding which way is best for you:

1) Any kind of certification is likely to be helpful, as is the pursuit of any new knowledge.

2) The more rigorous the certification, the more likely it is to be helpful.

3) Yellow belt can help you prepare for a green belt. In that way it’s a stepping stone. And stepping stones are a great way to make progress if you are especially busy right now.

4) Many people find the yellow belt to be too simplistic and abandon their goal of getting it because they don’t see how it can benefit their careers if it’s that “easy”. (It’s not easy, like eating cake, but I trust you know what I mean here.)

5) Many hiring managers do not value a yellow belt for various reasons.

I also wrote a ‘choose your own adventure’ style way of picking a belt that may be helpful here:

A Six Sigma Belt Road Map

Hope this helps! Please reach out with any other questions.

Best, Ted.

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