As with attaining a driver's license in the India, Six Sigma certification entails learning the appropriate subject matter, passing a written proficiency test, and displaying competency in a hands-on environment. The materials can be purchased from almost any Six Sigma training and consulting company, but almost always comes bundled with classroom training. Usually you or your company will purchase a training session, which has different bodies of knowledge and durations for each Six Sigma level (green belt, black belt, master black belt, sponsor, etc.).
The written proficiency test may be given by the training company or the business hiring the training company. Typically, companies new to Six Sigma will defer to the training company's proficiency test. Companies that have been performing in-house training for years (such as Motorola or GE) have created and administer their own written proficiency tests.
After a quality professional has completed training, s/he must complete one or two quality projects and display competency in applying the concepts learned in the classroom training. This is where certification companies diverge, as this part of the certification is the most fuzzy and undefined. Some organizations require a certification candidate to complete one project if a green belt or sponsor, and two projects if a black belt or master black belt; others require less or more. In addition, there is no standard for what passes and what fails to display an individual's competency.
So, what's the takeaway from certification? Any worthwhile certification involves training, a written proficiency exam, and a hands-on competency display of the methodology to real world problems. The specifics around each of these three requirements vary from company to company. Will it ever become standardized? Probably, but not in the next six to twelve months in the opinion of this author.
