How to know exactly what will be on your Six Sigma certification exam

The second lesson of the Six Sigma Study Guide Bootcamp class is ‘How to know exactly what will be on your Six Sigma certification exam.’

Today, I will show you how to know exactly what the certification exam covers. You’ll also learn several mistakes most people make when they are just starting out.

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Let me tell you about a person who made a huge mistake that destroyed his chance of getting certified.

Cliff Notes version…

This Six Sigma black belt candidate insisted on studying every detail from his class from beginning to end. He had just completed a semester-long course, and he thought he would be 100% prepared by studying every note in his textbooks, reviewing every quiz and homework question that he did, and re-taking his entire course.

The plan made sense, but there was a problem. He wanted to take the certification exam in six weeks.

Then, he called off the exam six days before it was supposed to happen.

The last I heard, he indefinitely postponed his exam, hasn’t gotten certified, and missed at least one promotion that would have significantly improved his career.

His strategy of exhaustively studying to get certified tanked because it relied on him knowing everything.

Every chapter.

Every lecture note.

Every nuance of every portion of the BOK imaginable.

It also relied on him staying motivated.

This was his study model:

Study everything all at once right now, all day, every day!

This person hated studying with this plan.

The reason?

He had lost sight of WHY he had started studying in the first place.

As a result, he made dumb decisions, got way off course, and suffered the embarrassment of being forced to walk away from his dream.

Let me ask you a question…

Would you ever start building a house without a clear picture of what you wanted it to look like?

No. That would be dumb.

Yet the #1 mistake you are making is not clearly articulating WHAT you want to achieve and WHY you want to achieve it BEFORE you start.

But don’t worry. We’re going to fix that. 🙂

Two days ago, I gave you a handful of action items:

Action Item #1: Write down your #1 goal.

Action Item #2: Clearly articulate your why.

The responses that some people sent in were really interesting.

Here are some of my favorites.

Pay attention to the WHY behind doing all of this work to get certified.

Use their Six Sigma Knowledge to be Great at their Jobs

I am a beginner with Quality. Right now, I have started learning to the statistics part and applying the knowledge in my daily jobs. I have to be little more confident with my current job and will further start branch into more detailed knowledge related with Sigma and other topics.

I just changed jobs in the same company and focused on stakeholder engagement.

I would like to have a tool which can help me improve processes and organize the work effectively.

I am from quality management background. Worked with automotive industry for 8+ yrs. I wanted to upgrade in problem solving as far as concern my quality field which in day to day life come across in solving the problems

I am the LSS department

To Find a Job by Certifying Six Sigma Skills

To be honest, I am looking for a job… I’m trying to get a job in the manufacturing industry (mostly in the automotive manufacturing industry) I need to remember the theory behind Six Sigma and other methodologies for continuous improvement in order to get competitive….I have started to study by myself. But without a guide, it’s easy to get lost among so many concepts.

Was in technology but due to buy out and restructuring currently on the job market.

To Improve Career Success

Lean six sigma certification- so that I may move onto bigger challenges in my professional life. I want to make an informative decisions backed by data and use it as a stepping step to (future opportunities)

I am currently working in a pharmaceutical firm, this certification would help me get into a better Quality position. I am also really interested in knowing how these concepts can be applicable to manufacturing industries.

Who doesn’t want to minimize the number of errors…who doesn’t want to increase the quality…we get sustainability and applicability across industries. Thus if I get through it will certainly add a much more weight to my resume as well as to my salary.

Trying to build resume by acquiring broad based knowledge that can be applied in multiple fields.

I want to relocate and work in UK and Six Sigma certification is needed in many jobs

Incorporating the tools of Six Sigma into my work life and becoming marketable as I transition out of being an HR Analyst into becoming a Business Analyst. I'd like to have the marketability to move into a greater role as a Consultant and/or Team Leader within my company.

I need to clear this exam on urgent basis as my appraisal is based on it. I also need to re-skill myself.

I parted ways with my previous company last October and decided that it would be helpful to strengthen my education/certifications as I pursued new opportunities. I have always been interested in improving manufacturing operations performance by engaging employees and using Statistical Quality Control, so I decided that it would make sense to pursue Lean Six Sigma.

Three reasons:

– Many companies require a strong background in LSS for operations leadership roles and official certification helps instill confidence that I have the necessary background,

– Actually provides me with an opportunity to look at shifting my career focus from Operations leadership to CI leadership, and

– Shows that I am making good use of my time-between-jobs.

If you didn’t write down your WHAT and WHY yesterday, take 5 minutes and do that now.

Once you have them, email them to me!

We’ll wait for you.

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How to reach your Six Sigma Certification goal

 Ok.

Now you’re super-clear on what you want…

• “More time to spend with my family and see the world while working on interesting projects.”
• “More freedom to do work that I enjoy.”
• “More money so my wife can quit her job, and we can start our family.”
• “More control over my future (instead of my boss dictating it).”
• “More income so my family can be debt-free.”
• “More success in my career”

The big question now is how you can get there.

How can you achieve the goal that you’ve set?

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received on reaching massive life-changing goals occurred when I started my first Six Sigma project.

When I took an internal consulting/strategy role, I was expected to lead massive projects right from the start. I was also expected to get certified, but the terms of the position meant that I was expected to contribute business results immediately. Fortunately, I had a mentor.

As soon as I got the job, I was overwhelmed.

I owned several high-profile projects with no idea how to do them.

I had to train for weeks and pass my Six Sigma Black Belt certification exams.

I was expected to design training from scratch – and deliver it to Six Sigma Green Belt candidates.

I had to mentor Six Sigma green belt candidates – several of whom were senior to me in the organization.

A few weeks into my journey, I distinctly remember one of my mentors telling me, “Don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Just don’t make a fatal mistake.”

The EXACT same thing is true in trying to pass your Six Sigma exam.

The reason you haven’t achieved your #1 goal yet is because it’s freaking hard to get there.

It’s going to take time. Sweat. Tears. And a lot of mistakes.

Your job is to avoid making a FATAL mistake.

So,, I’m going to show you three fatal mistakes that I’ve made or that I’ve seen others make and how to avoid them.

Note: I eventually learned how to manage my portfolio of projects, learning and teaching responsibilities, and thrive in that situation. I even managed to coach several business units to unprecedented heights. You can, too.

Mistake #1: Not Knowing What is on the Exam

Most “experts” will teach you to study by mapping out exactly everything you learned in your training, creating a plan to review each item, and then executing each step of the plan.

This sounds nice and warm and cuddly. But it’s completely ignorant of the way effective studying actually works.

And honestly, who has the time for this?

I’ve fallen into this trap more times than I can count. Spending days (or even weeks) mapping out exactly what my plan will look like, imagining executing my study plan over the next few months, and pontificating about all of the nuances of the exam I’ll eventually master along the way.

Then…

As soon as I enter the real world and try to execute my master plan, it falls apart immediately. Or I’m forced to cram for the exam the week before.

Instead of creating master plans, you need to focus on one thing:

Speed of execution.

How fast you go from idea to implementation is one of the top indicators that you’ll succeed.

Ideas are fragile. Two weeks from now, you’ll be much less excited about your idea than you are right now.

Capitalize on that excitement and build momentum by executing QUICKLY.

When you see the first seeds of your idea taking root, that will generate more momentum and give you the jump-start you need to stay focused and pass your exam.

Mistake #2: No familiarity with how questions are actually asked on the exam.

This is how it typically goes…

You think you have an idea of what will be on the exam – exactly what was covered in class! (Note: you probably really have no idea what will be on this exam – see mistake 1.)

You assume, either consciously or unconsciously, that the certification exam will ask you questions in the exact manner in which you learned the topics, using the same phrasing, the same vocabulary, and in the right way you’re familiar with.

You have a brilliant idea, like taking a practice exam over lunchtime (or whatever), and you find one online.

Maybe you decide to re-use the practice questions & assignments from your training. You score well – and you think that you are all set… that is until you show up for the real exam. And the questions on the real exam are totally different from what you saw before. The certification exam tests you on things you didn’t even cover in class.

Maybe you use a question bank from a different source and score poorly – and you become dejected. Or you decide that the results didn’t matter because they tested you on questions you were never taught – or they asked them in a funny way – or whatever.

Then you lose motivation, your study plan dies, and it takes you forever to recover.

STOP FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU WERE TAUGHT!!

What you were taught in the training class doesn’t matter.

The only question that matters is, “How prepared are you for the questions that will be on your exam?”

Instead of focusing on your training class syllabus, do this…

Try something – anything – to start making progress. Give it a few days.

Then, test yourself with an independent mock exam. Are you getting better and closer to passing? If yes, great! How could you extend those benefits? If not, that’s unfortunate. STOP! Do a different thing!

Mistake #3: Trying to study everything all at once

Once you know what you’re being tested on, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of thinking ‘well, ok, I’ll just study that! ALL OF THAT!’

But that’s not the best or most efficient way to prepare yourself for the exam.

The goal of your studying should be to put yourself in a position to get the most points possible on the exam.

Sounds simple, right? That’s what you’re trying to do by studying everything, right?

Wrong.

Let’s imagine that there are ten categories you’ll be tested on and 100 questions on the exam. It seems reasonable that there would be ten questions per category, right?

That’s generally NOT the case!

Some categories are worth more because the exam has more questions about that material!

What if the categories had this many questions:

Category 1: 10

Category 2: 10

Category 3: 25

Category 4: 5

Category 5: 8

Category 6: 17

Category 7: 10

Category 8:  5

Category 9: 5

Category 10: 5

Category 3 has a whopping 25 questions! It’s worth more than categories 1, 2, and 4 combined! Or 7, 8, 9, and 10 combined!!

Makes sense that you should start there, right?

Yes, possibly. If you are starting from scratch with absolutely no background in the material, that would be one way to go about it.

But you’re not starting from scratch.

You’ve taken the training, studied, and know enough about Six Sigma to be getting ready to sit your Green Belt or Black Belt exam!

Shouldn’t you account for what you already know?

And how do you handle sub-topics? What if you’re good at most of a section, but there’s a tiny subsection that gets the better of you right now?

How should that play into your planning?

Not to worry. We’ll cover that next time.

Mistake #4: Trying to do everything by yourself

Look…

I would be happy moving off into a cabin in the woods with my family, not talking to people and only emerging every three months for supplies.

I’m an introvert.

The problem with being an introvert AND trying to advance your career is that you think you can do everything by yourself.

Reading blog posts…

Listening to podcasts…

Reverse-engineering what other people are doing…

That stuff will only take you so far.

You need more.

You need accountability and direction from someone who has been where you are trying to go.

When I was trying to get out of debt, that person was my Master Black Belt mentor (for advice) and my friends Rich and Prajwal (for accountability).

Who is helping you?

Who is holding you accountable?

If your answer is “no one,” then stop and go get someone right now.

Get a mastermind group. Start one if you need to.

Hire a coach. Get a mentor.

It’s VITAL to you to reach your goal.

Avoid fatal mistakes and do this instead.

Most people believe they have to get lucky or kill themselves studying for months to pass a Six Sigma exam that will get them the job they want and allow them more time, freedom, job satisfaction, and money.

Instead, I’ve discovered that creating a customized study plan after I know exactly what will be on the exam and how well I know that material is far more important if you want to reach your #1 goal.

A customized study plan allows you to bring the exact right things you need to study to you instead of constantly just reviewing your old notes and hoping.

A customized study plan allows you to study precisely targeted topics in the right order so you’re not wasting your time.

A customized study plan allows you to balance all of your other responsibilities (work, family, etc) on top of studying! Not to mention the peace of mind that comes with it!

A customized study plan gives you time by releasing you from the grind of HAVING to study 20-40 hours a week (On top of the 40-80 hours you’re working at your job already to make ends meet.)

Your action items for today are…

Action Item #1: Write down your #1 goal on a piece of paper (you picked your #1 goal in Lesson #1).

Action Item #2: Now tape that piece of paper to the wall in front of your computer monitor.

Action Item #3: Hit reply to this email and tell me your goal. (Bonus points for sending me a picture of your goal taped to the wall in front of your computer monitor.)

-Ted

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Your goal should be your guidepost.

Every time you spend 10 minutes on Twitter…

Every time you waste 2 hours on Facebook…

Every time you listen to another podcast or read another blog post…

Your goal will be staring you in the face and asking, “Why aren’t you working on me instead of doing whatever else you’re doing?”

Coming Next:

In the next lesson, I’ll show you how to use the baseline hack to build your customized study plan.

This strategy can :

• Save you countless hours of studying
• Increase your expected exam score by dozens of points
• Single-handedly jump-start your customized study plan.

Chat soon.

Here’s a recap of the Six Sigma Study Guide Bootcamp class so far:

Lesson 1 – The very first step to studying for a Six Sigma exam

Lesson 2 – How to know exactly what will be on your Six Sigma certification exam

Lesson 3 – Behind the scenes of Successful Six Sigma Exam candidates

Lesson 4 – How to Dramatically Increase Your Chances of Passing a Six Sigma Certification Exam

Lesson 5 – Two Examples of How to Use the Baseline Hack Strategy

Lesson 6 – Additional Strategies and Tactics for your Six Sigma Exam

When you’re ready, there are a few ways I can help:

First, join 30,000+ other Six Sigma professionals by subscribing to my email newsletter. A short read every Monday to start your work week off correctly. Always free.

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2)→ ⚫Pass Your Six Sigma Black Belt ​​​

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