Should I go for online “Six Sigma” certification?
1) I am a masters student at the university of Maryland and I am majoring in Systems Engineering.
2) I did my undergraduate in Industrial Engineering from India.
3) I have no experience at all. I came for my masters directly after my undergrad.
4) I have interest in manufacturing, production, logistics, SCM, quality, Operations Research etc and have no interest in going to the IT industry.. specifically on the coding side.
After considering the above factors.. do you think I should go for online 6 sigma certification? or if not 6 sigma.. any other certification can you recommend? any help would be highly appreciated!
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The simple answer for you is: do not waste your money on an online course!
OK then – here are some ideas of what you might consider doing:
First, go to your local library into the reference section and find a set of three books called the Encyclopedia of Associations by Gale Research (if you go online, it will cost money versus going to the library). There should be three books. Look in the first volume and look up any term of idea (you can start with your ideas in number 4 above) and you should find any number of “professional organizations” that deal in that activity. Example: for “Quality” (which includes the Six Sigma stuff) one of the groups that you will find is the American Society for Quality (ASQ) at 800-248-1946 or http://www.asq.org
In Volume I – you will get a code number in which to look up in either Volumes II or III. It is in those volumes that the actual contact information and something about the organization will be given. Start contacting these groups and ask if they have a local Chapter/Section where you are living. If so, as a student, go to some of their local meetings and learn more about what they do.
You will also be able to find out what “certifications” they might offer and talk with real people who are doing the stuff that you might find interesting.
This networking will be important to you as you might find some companies who might we willing to take you on as an intern and give you chance to start applying some of the things that you have learned. This will also be important in looking for certification exams as many will require a certain amount of practical experience before you take the exam.
Now, you answer around Six Sigma – from my professional experience (which is a lot), I would recommend that you look at the ASQ. Start with the Green Belt exam which you can self study for using the internet (check out all of the resources listed below) including the http://www.usa.gov – use the search to look up examples for “Six Sigma”.
Once you pass the green belt and get some additional experience, then you can see if you like this stuff or not and then go for the black belt. By the time that you have that completed, the ASQ may have in place the new Certified Master Black Belt which is just now being started.
Any way you decide to go, start with the networking that you can generate using the Encyclopedia of Associations first.