Daniel Smith has been a reliability engineer at Cox Communications since 2005. He completed his undergraduate studies at Emory University and earned an MBA with a concentration in statistics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also received his Six Sigma Black Belt training.
When it comes to choosing a career, there are generally two types of people in the world: those who figured out long ago what they wanted to do and those who slowly gravitated toward a career. I don’t have any sample statistics to prove or disprove which group has a higher success rate, but I was definitely in the latter. The finality of choosing one career to achieve in life seemed so precarious. What if you’re wrong?!
I always thought it better to keep my options open, and that eventually led me to a career in quality management. But whether you know what you want to do for the rest of your life or are simply considering a career in quality management, there are a few actions that can help you gain a leg up on your ever-growing competition.
Get Certified
Here’s a little tip when you notice a position and are going over what is “required” and what is “preferred” in the job description. “Preferred” usually means required also. The job market is growing more competitive every day, and there will likely be at least dozens of candidates applying for the same position you covet. Most quality management positions will require a college degree, and many will likely list “graduate degree preferred.” However, if you don’t want to spend several years in a full-time graduate program, there are other ways to become certified with skills that will be of great benefit to you in the quality management world.
Obtaining certification in Six Sigma is one of the quickest ways to greatly improve your résumé. Many introductory Six Sigma certification programs (e.g., Green Belt) last anywhere from 1–4 weeks, and you can mention that in every interview you go to once you’re certified. Even if the company you are interviewing with likes to provide its own Six Sigma training, already being certified gives them greater confidence that you will have no trouble in their program. And by the way, “Six Sigma certified” often appears in the “preferred” section of many quality management openings.
Have Experience Using Advanced Analytics Software
Ten years ago, you might have been able to impress a quality manager if you had even basic Excel skills. Nowadays, almost every quality management department expects you to know how to use it. And although Excel is still a valuable tool, learning how to use advanced analytics software will separate you from your competition. Minitab (my preference) and JMP seem to be two of the more popular statistical software packages in use.
Having experience using any statistical software package doesn’t mean you have to be an expert. Ideally, once you get your foot in the door, you will have guidance from the quantitative experts who surround you. Further, this looks good on a résumé, even if the particular company you are attempting to join uses a different statistics package. If you can demonstrate familiarity with one type of software package, then most employers will feel fairly confident you can learn another.
Speak the Language
Colleagues sometimes ask me what to look for when interviewing a person for any analytics position, especially positions in quality management. The number-one skill I recommend looking for is the ability to discuss and explain variation. It doesn’t matter whether the quality management opportunity you are looking for resides in marketing, operations, sales, finance, logistics, or any other branch of a company. All measure variation in one way or another, so they need someone able to discuss this in an intelligent, confident way. Sometimes, this may be as easy as being able to define what a standard deviation represents.
Aside from variation, another important term you should feel comfortable with is statistical significance. It’s not necessary to memorize the multitude of comparative hypothesis tests that exist to determine statistical significance. Most of them can be referenced easily in your statistical software package or from other resources. What is important is that you are able to identify when the difference between two population sets, or two processes, differs by an amount too unlikely to have occurred by chance. Often times, an interviewer will pose a hypothetical question to you, and they are looking for you to address variation and statistical significance in your response.
I don’t want to discount the impact that networking, research skills, work ethic, presentation skills, public speaking, and many other variables could have on landing a position in quality management. However, covering the three aspects listed above should provide you with a solid foundation for a career in the quality management industry.
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