Explore Courses
course iconScrum AllianceCertified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification
  • 16 Hours
Best seller
course iconScrum AllianceCertified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) Certification
  • 16 Hours
Best seller
course iconScaled AgileLeading SAFe 6.0 Certification
  • 16 Hours
Trending
course iconScrum.orgProfessional Scrum Master (PSM) Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconScaled AgileSAFe 6.0 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconScaled Agile, Inc.Implementing SAFe 6.0 (SPC) Certification
  • 32 Hours
Recommended
course iconScaled Agile, Inc.SAFe 6.0 Release Train Engineer (RTE) Certification
  • 24 Hours
course iconScaled Agile, Inc.SAFe® 6.0 Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM)
  • 16 Hours
Trending
course iconKanban UniversityKMP I: Kanban System Design Course
  • 16 Hours
course iconIC AgileICP Agile Certified Coaching (ICP-ACC)
  • 24 Hours
course iconScrum.orgProfessional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I) Training
  • 16 Hours
course iconAgile Management Master's Program
  • 32 Hours
Trending
course iconAgile Excellence Master's Program
  • 32 Hours
Agile and ScrumScrum MasterProduct OwnerSAFe AgilistAgile CoachFull Stack Developer BootcampData Science BootcampCloud Masters BootcampReactNode JsKubernetesCertified Ethical HackingAWS Solutions Artchitct AssociateAzure Data Engineercourse iconPMIProject Management Professional (PMP) Certification
  • 36 Hours
Best seller
course iconAxelosPRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner Certificationn
  • 32 Hours
course iconAxelosPRINCE2 Foundation Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconAxelosPRINCE2 Practitioner Certification
  • 16 Hours
Change ManagementProject Management TechniquesCertified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) CertificationOracle Primavera P6 CertificationMicrosoft Projectcourse iconJob OrientedProject Management Master's Program
  • 45 Hours
Trending
course iconProject Management Master's Program
  • 45 Hours
Trending
PRINCE2 Practitioner CoursePRINCE2 Foundation CoursePMP® Exam PrepProject ManagerProgram Management ProfessionalPortfolio Management Professionalcourse iconAWSAWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
  • 32 Hours
Best seller
course iconAWSAWS Cloud Practitioner Certification
  • 32 Hours
course iconAWSAWS DevOps Certification
  • 24 Hours
course iconMicrosoftAzure Fundamentals Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconMicrosoftAzure Administrator Certification
  • 24 Hours
Best seller
course iconMicrosoftAzure Data Engineer Certification
  • 45 Hours
Recommended
course iconMicrosoftAzure Solution Architect Certification
  • 32 Hours
course iconMicrosoftAzure Devops Certification
  • 40 Hours
course iconAWSSystems Operations on AWS Certification Training
  • 24 Hours
course iconAWSArchitecting on AWS
  • 32 Hours
course iconAWSDeveloping on AWS
  • 24 Hours
course iconJob OrientedAWS Cloud Architect Masters Program
  • 48 Hours
New
course iconCareer KickstarterCloud Engineer Bootcamp
  • 100 Hours
Trending
Cloud EngineerCloud ArchitectAWS Certified Developer Associate - Complete GuideAWS Certified DevOps EngineerAWS Certified Solutions Architect AssociateMicrosoft Certified Azure Data Engineer AssociateMicrosoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) CourseAWS Certified SysOps Administrator AssociateMicrosoft Certified Azure Developer AssociateAWS Certified Cloud Practitionercourse iconAxelosITIL 4 Foundation Certification
  • 16 Hours
Best seller
course iconAxelosITIL Practitioner Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconPeopleCertISO 14001 Foundation Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconPeopleCertISO 20000 Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconPeopleCertISO 27000 Foundation Certification
  • 24 Hours
course iconAxelosITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support Training
  • 24 Hours
course iconAxelosITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value Training
  • 24 Hours
course iconAxelosITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve Training
  • 16 Hours
ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support ExamITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV) CourseITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan, and ImproveITIL 4 Foundationcourse iconJob OrientedData Science Bootcamp
  • 6 Months
Trending
course iconJob OrientedData Engineer Bootcamp
  • 289 Hours
course iconJob OrientedData Analyst Bootcamp
  • 6 Months
course iconJob OrientedAI Engineer Bootcamp
  • 288 Hours
New
Data Science with PythonMachine Learning with PythonData Science with RMachine Learning with RPython for Data ScienceDeep Learning Certification TrainingNatural Language Processing (NLP)TensorflowSQL For Data Analyticscourse iconIIIT BangaloreExecutive PG Program in Data Science from IIIT-Bangalore
  • 12 Months
course iconMaryland UniversityExecutive PG Program in DS & ML
  • 12 Months
course iconMaryland UniversityCertificate Program in DS and BA
  • 31 Weeks
course iconIIIT BangaloreAdvanced Certificate Program in Data Science
  • 8+ Months
course iconLiverpool John Moores UniversityMaster of Science in ML and AI
  • 750+ Hours
course iconIIIT BangaloreExecutive PGP in ML and AI
  • 600+ Hours
Data ScientistData AnalystData EngineerAI EngineerData Analysis Using ExcelDeep Learning with Keras and TensorFlowDeployment of Machine Learning ModelsFundamentals of Reinforcement LearningIntroduction to Cutting-Edge AI with TransformersMachine Learning with PythonMaster Python: Advance Data Analysis with PythonMaths and Stats FoundationNatural Language Processing (NLP) with PythonPython for Data ScienceSQL for Data Analytics CoursesAI Advanced: Computer Vision for AI ProfessionalsMaster Applied Machine LearningMaster Time Series Forecasting Using Pythoncourse iconDevOps InstituteDevOps Foundation Certification
  • 16 Hours
Best seller
course iconCNCFCertified Kubernetes Administrator
  • 32 Hours
New
course iconDevops InstituteDevops Leader
  • 16 Hours
KubernetesDocker with KubernetesDockerJenkinsOpenstackAnsibleChefPuppetDevOps EngineerDevOps ExpertCI/CD with Jenkins XDevOps Using JenkinsCI-CD and DevOpsDocker & KubernetesDevOps Fundamentals Crash CourseMicrosoft Certified DevOps Engineer ExperteAnsible for Beginners: The Complete Crash CourseContainer Orchestration Using KubernetesContainerization Using DockerMaster Infrastructure Provisioning with Terraformcourse iconTableau Certification
  • 24 Hours
Recommended
course iconData Visualisation with Tableau Certification
  • 24 Hours
course iconMicrosoftMicrosoft Power BI Certification
  • 24 Hours
Best seller
course iconTIBCO Spotfire Training
  • 36 Hours
course iconData Visualization with QlikView Certification
  • 30 Hours
course iconSisense BI Certification
  • 16 Hours
Data Visualization Using Tableau TrainingData Analysis Using Excelcourse iconEC-CouncilCertified Ethical Hacker (CEH v12) Certification
  • 40 Hours
course iconISACACertified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Certification
  • 22 Hours
course iconISACACertified Information Security Manager (CISM) Certification
  • 40 Hours
course icon(ISC)²Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
  • 40 Hours
course icon(ISC)²Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) Certification
  • 40 Hours
course iconCertified Information Privacy Professional - Europe (CIPP-E) Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconISACACOBIT5 Foundation
  • 16 Hours
course iconPayment Card Industry Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Certification
  • 16 Hours
course iconIntroduction to Forensic
  • 40 Hours
course iconPurdue UniversityCybersecurity Certificate Program
  • 8 Months
CISSPcourse iconCareer KickstarterFull-Stack Developer Bootcamp
  • 6 Months
Best seller
course iconJob OrientedUI/UX Design Bootcamp
  • 3 Months
Best seller
course iconEnterprise RecommendedJava Full Stack Developer Bootcamp
  • 6 Months
course iconCareer KickstarterFront-End Development Bootcamp
  • 490+ Hours
course iconCareer AcceleratorBackend Development Bootcamp (Node JS)
  • 4 Months
ReactNode JSAngularJavascriptPHP and MySQLcourse iconPurdue UniversityCloud Back-End Development Certificate Program
  • 8 Months
course iconPurdue UniversityFull Stack Development Certificate Program
  • 9 Months
course iconIIIT BangaloreExecutive Post Graduate Program in Software Development - Specialisation in FSD
  • 13 Months
Angular TrainingBasics of Spring Core and MVCFront-End Development BootcampReact JS TrainingSpring Boot and Spring CloudMongoDB Developer Coursecourse iconBlockchain Professional Certification
  • 40 Hours
course iconBlockchain Solutions Architect Certification
  • 32 Hours
course iconBlockchain Security Engineer Certification
  • 32 Hours
course iconBlockchain Quality Engineer Certification
  • 24 Hours
course iconBlockchain 101 Certification
  • 5+ Hours
NFT Essentials 101: A Beginner's GuideIntroduction to DeFiPython CertificationAdvanced Python CourseR Programming LanguageAdvanced R CourseJavaJava Deep DiveScalaAdvanced ScalaC# TrainingMicrosoft .Net Frameworkcourse iconSalary Hike GuaranteedSoftware Engineer Interview Prep
  • 3 Months
Data Structures and Algorithms with JavaScriptData Structures and Algorithms with Java: The Practical GuideLinux Essentials for Developers: The Complete MasterclassMaster Git and GitHubMaster Java Programming LanguageProgramming Essentials for BeginnersComplete Python Programming CourseSoftware Engineering Fundamentals and Lifecycle (SEFLC) CourseTest-Driven Development for Java ProgrammersTypeScript: Beginner to Advanced

Essential Guide to Six Sigma Black Belt Certification

By Shivender Sharma

Updated on Jul 02, 2020

Share:

What is Six Sigma Black Belt?  

Black Belts are skilled in analyzing huge chunks of data, managing different projects and organizing the team dynamics within the organisation, with respect to quality improvements in processes. So, in essence, they act as change agents who are dedicated to problem solving and ensuring quality adherence within processes and the organization.  

The title 'Black Belt' has been inspired by martial arts and holds an integral meaning within the Six Sigma philosophy. The lean Six Sigma is a problem solving technique that encourages the user to adopt a no-waste approach to enhance the performance and customer satisfaction of the brand. The Six Sigma Black Belt developer measures, structures, and analyses the performance related issues of the system in accordance with the Six Sigma rule.  

The basic purpose of this is to lead the project in a way that yields the best results. Black Belt Certification also trains candidates to understand, improve and improvise the concepts of variation, and deploy different roles to different teams in a method that is meticulous and process oriented.  

The International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC) certified Six Sigma Black Belt Exam is a closed book proctored exam where candidates have to answer 150 questions in a span of 4 hours. The paper has a combination of objective questions, long answers and non-graded questions. With this certification, developers can improve their interpersonal skills, become better managers and apply for better and more prestigious positions in the firm as well.  

Who can take up the Six Sigma Black Belt course? 

Developers and industry professionals with sufficient work experience and industry knowledge can opt for the Six Sigma Black Belt certification. Also, note that only full-time positions are available in the Six Sigma framework. Some other aspects that are considered by recruiters are; 

  • Organisational skills and the ability to assign tasks to different departments  
  • Ability to figure out quick and proactive measures to improve performance  
  • Problem identification and solving skills  
  • Understand team dynamics and take initiative for projects 
  • Work on extensive databases and find out patterns  
  • Be up to date with the latest trends of the industry  
  • Have the technical skills, understand common DFSS and DFX methods  

The candidate must have the basic academic credentials and professional work experience of over 3 years. Other than that, you need the other standard skills like coding, technical knowledge, communication skills and analytical abilities.  

How to get certified in Six Sigma Black Belt? 

The mini-infographic below provides a visual guide to the steps required to get Six Sigma Black Belt certified. In the section to follow, we guide you through the certification process through the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC), the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC) and the American Quality for Quality (AQS).

Master Right Skills & Boost Your Career

Avail your free 1:1 mentorship session

Certification from the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC) 

To get certified in the Six Sigma Black Belt from the IASSC, you have to first apply for and clear the IASSC exam which consists of 150 questions that you will have to complete in a span of 4 hours. These questions can contain a mix of objective questions, subjective questions and detailed answers. There are about 800 centres all over India where you can opt for giving your exams. All you have to do is contact the KnowledgeHut representative who will order a voucher for you. This is going to cost extra as the certification exam fee is not included in the course fee. 

Certification from the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC) 

For the Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam from CSSC, you can follow these steps: 

  • Visit the official website of CSSC through this link
  • Click on ‘Add to cart’. 
  • A pop-up will appear. Select ‘Checkout’.  
  • Enter the required details. 
  • Make the payment to finish placing your order. 

Certification from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) 

For the Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam from ASQ, you can follow these steps: 

  • Go to the official website of Prometric
  • Click on Schedule Your Exam present under the Test Takers section. 
  • Search for Six Sigma Black Belt in the search bar. 
  • Once you find it, click on Read More. 
  • Under the Actions table, select the Schedule option. 
  • Select your Country on the next page. 
  • Read the Information Review. Click on Next. 
  • Agree to the Privacy Policy. 
  • Enter your details like the Eligibility ID. 
  • Next, select the Black Belt for the Appointments Selection. 
  • On the next page, select the date and time for your exam. Your exam will be scheduled. 

What are the roles and responsibilities of a Six Sigma Black Belt?  

Every Black Belt Six Sigma professional must be proficient in dealing with huge amounts of statistical data along with excellent managerial skills and analytical knowledge. This makes the professional responsible for inter-department management, organizing team dynamics and taking care of the internal setup of the company. Six Sigma certification prepares one to understand processes, reasons for failure and steps for mitigation of errors.  

Six Sigma professionals are proficient in the Six Sigma philosophies, which enable them to establish better, more flexible and transparent communication channels between employees and hierarchies. They are also liable for gathering insights, sorting them and storing them in a systematic manner and then analyse it in a way that yields the best results.  

The professionals also have to understand the different GAP analysis and SWOT analysis that help determine the strengths, weaknesses, threats and potential opportunities that would help the organization reach new heights.  

The Six Sigma Black Belt certified candidates are responsible for the entire management, deployment of the resources and its follow-up within the organisation. This also prepares the professional to anticipate the possible risks and take the initiatives that would help them overcome these liabilities that covers the losses and enhances your profits.  

What are the benefits of Black Belt certification? 

A Six Sigma degree and the Black Belt certification has far reaching career and personal benefits. This degree covers a smart mix of technical, theoretical and practical topics that would help you understand the happenings of the industry in a more detailed way, and how best you can tailor the Six Sigma to suit the needs of your organization and enhance your problem solving skills. Overall the Six Sigma helps you in the following:

  • Improve your managerial and organisational skills  
  • Develop better interpersonal relations with other people and departments  
  • Boost the overall performance of the enterprise in a way that is beneficial to all the parties involved 
  • To develop a plan for holistic and sustainable growth of the sector and the company  
  • Helps you gain better deeper insights into the market that gives you an edge over your peers  
  • Formulate better business principles to ensure cost reduction and time saving techniques 

Six Sigma Black Belt Certification exam requirements 

There are no specific requirements or academic degrees that you would need to be eligible for the Six Sigma degree. However, recruiters do have a preference for professionals who have a technical background and are well versed with concepts like database management, programming languages, handling statistics and coding.  Candidates should know how to implement Six Sigma across the organization, be aware of quality benchmarks and factors that lead a project to success. Here are some of the other requirements that might be expected from the Six Sigma candidates that you should know about; 

  • Basic managerial skills and interpersonal skills 
  • Technical knowledge and industry experience 
  • Knowledge about the inter department workings 
  • Knowledge of tools for tracking project progress 
  • Team management 

Here are the specific requirements of the exam according to the accrediting body: 

  • IASSC: There are no prerequisites. 
  • ASQ 
    • One completed project with signed affidavit or two completed projects with signed affidavits 
    • Three years of work experience in one or more areas of the Six Sigma Body of Knowledge.
  • CSSC: There are no prerequisites. 

Here are the exam formats from the various certification bodies for the Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Exam: 

ASQ

Type of questions No of questions Duration Open/closed
MCQ
  • 165 for computer 
  • 150 for paper based 
  • Four and a half hour
  • Four hours
Open book

IASSC

Type of questions No of questions Duration Open/closed

MCQ

 
150 Four hours Closed book

CSSC  

Type of questions No of questions Duration Open/closed

MCQ

 
150 Non-timed Open book

How to apply for the Six Sigma Black Belt exam?  

The Six Sigma certification would be a great addition to your resume, opening new opportunities for candidates in a sector of their choice. The Black Belt degree makes you more eligible and capable of handling the internal affairs of the company, build strong teams and set in order processes that will help chart the path to success. It teaches you all about the ways in which you can gather the best of the resources and deploy them in a way that is productive for the organisation.  

To get the black belt degree though you need to attempt and pass an exam that requires a fair bit of preparation to clear. The certification exams are conducted by a number of reputed bodies, chief among them being the IASSC, CSSC and ASQ.  

The IASSC Black Belt exam paper is divided into 150 questions that cover major sections of the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge. Studying these topics and appearing for the exam ensures that you have through knowledge of tackling on-the-job situations.  

Once you have signed up for the exam by following the relevant procedures and paying the fee, you can sit for the exam and give it your best shot.

While this is quite an arduous exam, proper preparation will ensure that you clear at the first attempt. Enrolling for a Lean Six Sigma training that is provided by an accredited body will ensure that you have all the right resources and guidance to clear the exam.    

Become a project management expert with our best PRINCE2 Foundation training course. Begin your path to success now!

What is the average salary of a Six Sigma Black Belt certified professional? 

As more and more organizations are going Lean the need for certified Six Sigma Black belt professionals is on the rise. This demand has ensured a subsequent increase in the salary that Six Sigma professionals earn.  Also, as a black belt certified professional, you can take on the following roles: 

  • Trainer/Coach 
  • Manager 
  • Influencer 
  • Process/Product/Project Manager 
  • Business Analyst 
  • Quality Assurance 

While the average salary of a Six Sigma Black belt certified professional is $104,019 per year, this largely depends on your industry experience, technical expertise and the country you’re working in.  The average salary of a Director of Quality with a Six Sigma Black Belt is $116,169 per year. A Process Manager and a Senior Process Manager can earn an average of $81,013 and $97,997 per year.  

*All the figures are from Indeed.com's salary estimation based on job advertisements and 512,851 employees. 

Ready to grow your career in Lean Six Sigma? Browse through our Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt course for personalized guidance.

Shivender Sharma

Shivender Sharma

149 articles published

Get Free Consultation

By submitting, I accept the T&C and
Privacy Policy

Suggested Blogs