Many passionate, upwardly mobile people look at lean six sigma black belt certification as a means of advancement into upper management within their company or industry. Sometimes these people are not even part of the six sigma culture. Through word of mouth or reading material, they've heard about six sigma and simply want to get certified thereby adding another certificate to their ego wall of accomplishment. One of the questions they must ask themselves is whether or not certification makes them more marketable, or whether or not they will be able to use the tool set employed in six sigma methodologies. These black belt certified prospects must also ask if six sigma certification will make them more valuable at work.

Taking their work environment into consideration, maybe they should decide if which part of six sigma culture will serve them better. In other words, should they concentrate on six sigma, PMP, Lean six sigma or some other certification such as green belt or champion, or even master black belt certification? For instance, if your company has not already embraced the Six Sigma culture, then how do you know that six sigma black belt certification is right for you? There is also a major time commitment involved and the question is can you put in the time and effort necessary to succeed?

The other factor is cost, especially if you're doing this on your own and not with your company's help. The cost of six sigma black belt certification is huge for the individual. Then there is the problem of maintaining that certification or keeping it up to date.  There are hundreds of businesses and organizations which offer lean six sigma black belt certification and all of them are different, because there is no industry standard requirement for six sigma black belts. One factor that is standard is that in order to get certified the candidate must complete a project which sometimes can take a long time. If the candidate's company has not embraced six sigma then it becomes virtually impossible to fulfill the six sigma black belt certification benefits as Six Sigma is almost always practiced in a team-based environment.

It's right that people want to improve themselves, however sometimes they need to an assessment of their own needs, as well as value to their company before embarking on what may prove to be a dead end situation.  Six Sigma is very beneficial to most companies that implement its methodologies, but it isn’t right for everyone and every company.  Doing your homework before enrolling in a Six Sigma Certification Program is necessary.