<p>I'm a sophomore Industrial Engineering and will be going on co-op in the summer. I've heard that the Six Sigma Green Belt looks good on the resume so was thinking of doing it. I got my yellow belt and even though it feels like a lot of BS, I figure if getting the green belt helps, then why not?</p>
<p>My question is, there are quite a few vendors who are offering Six Sigma green belt courses. Do you guys know any courses with which you guys have had personal experience? I'm not sure how to narrow down which institution to go with.. Any ideas? I hope to get the belt by March latest.</p>
<p>I heard about Six Sigma a few years back and while I am not an IE I feel like it's a load of garbage and imparts nothing new that an IE doesn't already know. Just reading through the description of the "course" on that website, I almost laughed at how many buzzwords I saw.</p>
<p>Edit: And they refer to training levels as "belts"? Come on!</p>
<p>If you get hired by a company that really believes in Six Sigma they should be willing to pay for further training for your skills in it. If the company doesn't care about it, then having more knowledge of it won't be much help. I know my mom's workplace has paid for her to take a few classes on lean engineering, six sigma, and other things like that, and while she's found it's been really helpful for her learning different ways to look at problems, she's gotten frustrated since the company doesn't seem dedicated to implementing those ideas.</p>
<p>How do you get started in the training and obtain belts? I know that there are books out there but after reading one I can't say that I have officially obtained a belt.</p>
<p>I have my green belt, and was trained by Johnson&Johnson when I worked for them. I don't really use much of it anymore, at least not in a formal "Six Sigma" fashion. DMAIC is a great way to approach any problem and SIPOCs, Pareto Charts, Flowsheets, Fishbone diagrams, Capability indexes, and an ability to measure process variation are just great tools and knowledges to have, but I don't think you need formal training to know this stuff. In fact, I would think if you had proper training in project management and then read up on those things I just mentioned you'd be more valuable than a Green Belt. Knowing how to write a project charter and than seeing that project through is, in my opinion, worth more than any formal error reduction technique; because there are many of these.</p>
<p>I wouldn't go for Green Belt unless your company is willing to pay for it. I would go for a CPM (certificate in project management) on the side, as this would make you stand out as an engineer... as far as your resume is concerned. I also think it would make you a better engineer.</p>