Do you want to become Six Sigma Yellow belt certified? and want to start your journey as a process improvement consultant? Then this article is for you. Six Sigma Yellow belt is a level 1 Lean Six Sigma certification, working professional starts their journey of becoming change agent/process improvement expert with this certification.
Even though it is level 1 Six Sigma certification but it is recognized across industries and makes you stand out from the crowd. Having this certification shows that he/she is interested in process improvement/continuous improvement efforts and also capable of becoming an effective team member of Six Sigma process improvement projects.
In this article, I am going to share with you how to become Six Sigma Yellow belt certified? and Who are the yellow belt professionals? their roles and responsibilities in the Six Sigma project. In the end, you will get clarity on how to achieve this Six Sigma yellow belt certification and starts your journey as a Lean Six Sigma professional. Let’s start…
What is Six Sigma yellow belt certification?
Six Sigma Yellow belt certification is level-1 certification in Lean Six Sigma methodology. Six Sigma yellow belt certified professionals are the effective team members of the Six Sigma improvement projects and they have a basic understanding of Six Sigma methodology as well as all phases of DMAIC methodology.
Certification bodies like ASQ, IASSC, and CSSC provide Six Sigma yellow belt certification. For that, you have to prepare as per the Body of Knowledge of the respective Six Sigma certification body.
After preparation, you have to appear for their certification exam and you get certification from these bodies when you crack their Six Sigma yellow belt certification exam with a good score. We will discuss about these exams later in this article.
Having this yellow belt certification will help you stand out from the crowd in the job market. Six Sigma Yellow belt certified professionals means the professional who successfully demonstrated their competence in the subject matters as determined by the professional yellow belt certification exam based on the IASSC/ASQ/CSSC body of knowledge.
Six Sigma yellow belt certified professionals can serve as entry-level process improvement agents. They use their knowledge of the Six Sigma methodology to help Green belt and Black belt Six Sigma projects within the organization. They actively participate in process improvement activities.
They fully understand the principles of Six Sigma and are capable of characterizing processes, solving problems associated with their work responsibilities, and implementing and maintaining the gains from improvements. They apply the Six Sigma concepts to their work assignments and also use the different Six Sigma tools.
Responsibilities of Yellow belt professionals –
- Provide support to the Black belt and Green belts during projects.
- Being an effective team member always supports the project in the data collection process.
- Follow the DMAIC process and apply appropriate Six Sigma tools.
- Use Six Sigma tools in the workplace.
- Make suggestions for future projects.
How to become Six Sigma Yellow belt certified?
Generally, this certification is suited for candidates who want to start their career in the field of quality management, Change management, Process improvement, and Operations management.
Because while preparing for this certification candidates learn different Lean and Six Sigma problem-solving tools which help them in the improvement of the process as well as product quality.
In order to become a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional and improve your understanding of DMAIC methodology for problem-solving at the workplace, you can have the 4 best Six Sigma yellow belt certification options ASQ, IASSC, CSSC, and TUV-SUD, etc.
These certification bodies’ Yellow belt body of knowledge will make you a perfect yellow belt professional who has better knowledge of Six Sigma methodologies and who can support the Green belt and Black belt effectively during the improvement projects.
Let’s understand the yellow belt certification exam format of each certification body (IASSC/ASQ/CSSC/TUV) one by one and then you should decide which one to go for –
Step-1: Select Certification body
IASSC Lean Six Sigma yellow belt certification –
IASSC yellow belt certification body of knowledge includes topics like three phases of DMAIC methodology i.e. Define, Measure, and Control. To prepare for this Lean Six Sigma yellow belt certification you need to understand these three phases of DMAIC in detail. Let’s see the format of the ICYB certification exam below –
Body of knowledge | Define, Measure, Control (3 phases of DMAIC) (ICYB BOK) |
Allotted time for exam | 2hr |
No of questions | 60 questions (20 on each phase) |
Passing score | 70% |
Exam voucher cost | 195$ |
Validity period | 3 years |
Exam format | Closed book (Computer-based) |
Eligibility criteria | Anybody can attempt the exam (No work-ex required) |
TUV yellow belt certification body of knowledge includes topics like Basics of Six Sigma and DMAIC methodology. To prepare for this Lean six sigma yellow belt certification exam you need to understand these topics from the official TUV YB BOK. Let’s see the format of the TUV YB certification exam below.
Body of knowledge | Basics of Six Sigma and DMAIC methodology (TUV YB BOK) |
Allotted time for exam | 1hr |
No of questions | 40 questions |
Passing score | 60% |
Exam voucher cost | 70$ (vary depending upon discount offer) |
Validity period | Lifetime certification |
Exam format | Online exam |
Eligibility criteria | Anybody can attempt the exam. (No work-ex required) |
Read more – How to apply for TUV yellow belt official exam?
ASQ Six Sigma yellow belt certification –
ASQ Yellow belt certification body of knowledge includes topics like five phases of DMAIC methodology as well as Six Sigma fundamentals. To prepare for this Six Sigma yellow belt certification you need to understand the entire DMAIC methodology (basic level) and also be clear with basic knowledge of Six Sigma. Let’s see the format ASQ certification exam below –
Body of knowledge | Six Sigma fundamentals and DMAIC methodology. |
Allotted time for exam | 2hr 18 min |
No of questions | 85 questions (75 scored and 10 unscored) |
Passing score | 85% |
Exam voucher cost | ASQ members – 294$, Non-members – 394$, Retakes – 184$ |
Validity period | Lifetime certification |
Exam format | Open book exam with two options (Computer-based and Paper-based) |
Eligibility criteria | Anybody can attempt the exam (No work-ex required) |
Read more – How to apply for ASQ yellow belt official exam?
CSSC Six Sigma yellow belt certification –
CSSC yellow belt certification body of knowledge includes topics like basic concepts in the Six Sigma process improvement methodology. Preparing for this Six Sigma yellow belt certification little bit easy as compared to other certification bodies because the syllabus is quite easy. Let’s see the format of the CSSC YB exam below –
Body of knowledge | Basic concepts in Six Sigma process improvement methodology |
Allotted time for exam | 1hr |
No of questions | 50 questions |
Passing score | At least score 140 points out of 200 points (Correct at least 35 questions) |
Exam voucher cost | 99$ (Voucher valid for 1 year with 3 attempts available to pass the exam. |
Validity period | Lifetime certification |
Exam format | Open book exam |
Eligibility criteria | Anybody can attempt the exam (No work-ex required) |
Read more – How to apply for CSSC yellow belt official exam?
These are the 4 top Six Sigma yellow belt certifications depending upon your requirement you can go for any of the certifications. All these 4 certifications are recognized and respected across the industries so in terms of recognition you don’t need to be a worry.
The only difference in these certifications is that TUV and IASSC provide Lean Six Sigma certification while ASQ and CSSC provide Six Sigma certification. So whether you want to become Lean Six Sigma yellow belt certified or Six Sigma yellow belt certified depending upon that select the right certification.
You can compare these certification exams on different factors like cost of certification, Body of knowledge, the difficulty level of the exam, the format of the exam (whether you are comfortable with an open book or closed book exam.), etc. If you need to understand how to select the right Lean Six Sigma certification then check out the below 3 articles.
Read more – IASSC vs ASQ: How to select right Six Sigma certification?
Read more – All about ASQ and CSSC Six Sigma certification.
Read more – All about IASSC and TUV Lean Six Sigma certification.
Step-2: Select Lean Six Sigma training provider
To become Six Sigma yellow belt certified you can have two options either you can join a Six Sigma yellow belt training program or you can do self-study using study materials as well as using blog articles from our platform.
As per my knowledge, if you have experience working in the process improvement domain then you are already aware of basic fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma and you know how to use different Lean Six Sigma tools. In that case, you can think about the self-study option.
For that, you have to download the body of knowledge of the respective Six Sigma certification body (IASSC/ASQ/TUV/CSSC) and start preparing accordingly using study materials as well as blog articles from the internet. You can also refer to case study-based blog articles from our site to understand different concepts.
For self-study, you can also enroll in different six sigma self-paced courses to improve your conceptual understanding easily. On the other hand, if you are completely new to this field, then training programs are useful for you to understand Six Sigma concepts from scratch.
The training program will give you the right direction to start your yellow belt exam preparation. See even if you are aware of Six Sigma concepts because you applied them at the workplace but are not sure about your understanding for the exam then also I would suggest you join the yellow belt training program.
Nowadays Six Sigma yellow belt online live training is easily available, many training providers started this live training after COVID-19. Just you need to spend a little bit of extra money to enroll in live training but that will definitely help you in your yellow belt exam preparation.
So, to become Six Sigma yellow belt certified you should make sure that whether you need an online live training for preparation or you can manage with self-study. Be clear with this question and if you think you need training then here are some of my recommendations for yellow belt training.
- ASQ official Yellow belt training
- TUV official yellow belt training
- Simplilearn (IASSC)
- Grey campus (IASSC)
- Udemy Bestseller Yellow belt training course.
- Benchmark Six Sigma, etc.
These are some of the good training providers. But while selecting any course for Yellow belt training make sure you should check whether the course covers the respective certifications body of knowledge or not. Also, check out the customer feedback on how satisfied the professionals are with yellow belt training.
So the point here is to do your own analysis before selecting any course because you are investing your money there. Right! When you get clarity on these factors then go for the yellow belt training. In this way, it becomes easy for you to select a good training provider for yellow belt exam preparation.
When you get a good training course the chances of becoming Six Sigma yellow belt certified at the first attempt will increase. Along with this you also need proper study materials and questions for practice which help you strengthen your conceptual understanding. Now let’s talk about it…
Step-3: Study material and practice tests –
When you enroll in any course, generally the training providers will give you good quality study material and notes for preparation. But these resources are not sufficient, in order to understand Lean Six Sigma concepts you need to go deeper. For that, you need reference books on Lean Six Sigma because reference books will give you more clarity on different concepts.
If I talk about the CSSC Yellow belt exam, CSSC itself provides a good reference book for the yellow belt exam or you can say a manual for study purposes and which is completely free. You can download the study manual for all exams MBB, BB, GB, and YB from their official site.
If you want to become CSSC Six Sigma yellow belt certified then their official yellow belt study manual is enough for your preparation. Click on the below link and download the yellow belt study manual to start your preparation.
Download the manual – CSSC Six Sigma yellow belt manual.
Then comes ASQ yellow belt exam, for this you need ASQ official guide for preparation. ASQ provides two books which you can find on their official site i.e. Six Sigma Yellow belt certified handbook and the ASQ CSSYB study guide. These two books are not free you have to purchase them from the ASQ site.
See, these books are not mandatory for preparation but will help you in your preparation. You can crack the ASQ yellow belt exam even without these books. Right! Still, if you need it then check out the below links. –
Book-1: Six Sigma yellow belt certified handbook.
Book-2: The ASQ CSSYB Study guide.
Then for TUV yellow belt exam, you can directly enroll in their official yellow belt training. In the official training, you will get all the study material for TUV yellow belt exam. Once you enroll in TUV yellow belt training you don’t need to go anywhere. Right! Click on the below link for more details on TUV YB training.
Check out the course – TUV Lean Six Sigma yellow belt certified training.
Then in the last for the IASSC Yellow belt, you can think about our best seller yellow belt exam practice test course. This course provides you IASSC Yellow belt study manual for preparation as well as 305 practice questions with detailed explanations.
This course will give you 4 mock exams aligned with the IASSC YB exam format and 1 mock exam aligned with the ASQ YB exam format. Till now this course helped more than 300 professionals in successfully cracking the IASSC YB exam on the first attempt and the number is going up continuously.
Recently I have added 1 mock exam as per the ASQ YB exam format so now this course is useful for all the professionals who are preparing for any yellow belt exam i.e. IASSC/TUV/ASQ/CSSC.
So along with practice questions and study material, if you need 24/7 doubt solving support and want to become IASSC Six Sigma yellow belt certified by cracking the ICYB exam on the first attempt then you should definitely enroll in this course by clicking on the discount link below –
Enroll now – Six Sigma Yellow belt certified exam practice test course.
That’s how you should follow these three steps to become a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional. First, you should select the certification body means which certification body’s exam do you want to prepare for? After that find out the right training provider who can help you in your preparation as well as provide you support during preparation.
The last step is to use reference study material according to your respective certification body, depending upon which certification body yellow belt exam you are preparing for? I have shared everything with you in this article.
In the end, practice as many questions as possible in order to strengthen your understanding and for that, you can enroll in our practice test course. Once your preparation is done then apply for the official exam and appear for the exam with full confidence.
If you follow these steps carefully and practice as many questions as possible then I am sure you will crack the exam on the first attempt and become a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional easily.
What is the average salary of a Six Sigma yellow belt professional?
After becoming Six Sigma yellow belt certified you will get a lot of opportunities in the job market. This certification is the 1st step toward becoming a process improvement consultant. Along with the other career benefits, your salary will also increase after achieving this certification. Companies will offer you the following roles –
- Process engineer
- Quality analyst
- Operations manager
- Quality manager
- Quality engineer
- Process improvement consultant
- Six Sigma project team member
The average annual salary of a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional ranges from $50,000 to $70,000 per annum. The salary depends on the experience of an individual, the more experienced a professional has, the more salary he has. All these data are taken from indeed.com’s salary estimation based on job advertisements.
Conclusion-
In order to become a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional, you need the right exam preparation strategy as well as study material. We have discussed in detail about Six Sigma yellow belt certification exam of 4 recognized certification bodies in the world IASSC, ASQ, CSSC, and TUV.
We discussed how you can select the right six sigma yellow belt training provider for your preparation as well as which study material should be used for the respective certification body’s yellow belt exam. I have also shared with you the best yellow belt practice test course which help you in improving your conceptual understanding.
In the end, we also discussed the salary of a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional as per job portal data. I hope this complete guide on the yellow belt exam helped you understand how to become a Six Sigma yellow belt certified professional.
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