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Career Advice Related to IT and Six Sigma

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • April 23, 2010 at 3:49 pm #53422

    harwood
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Good day!

    Recently, I have learned that I may be part of a large reduction in force due to a facility closing. I would like to approach this as an opportunity rather than a cross to bear.

    I have extensive experience in Six Sigma and most quality centric business roles, but I would like to expand my skillset into the IT world as well.

    Are there any suggestions as to what specific roles/certifications that I should pursue training in that would be complimentary with quality methodology and Six Sigma?

    Thank you in advance for your sage advice!

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    April 24, 2010 at 6:16 am #190043

    Nicole Patel
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    The beauty of Six Sigma is that it can be applied to any operation, industry, or discipline. In my opinion, Six Sigma is both a thought process and a tool set. It provides you with a methodical process for continuous improvement and defect reduction using the tools in its tool box. You’d probably surprise yourself with how easily you would be able to work on an IT project following such Six Sigma processes of DMAIC, Lean, and Design for Six Sigma.

    With that said, you probably need to become familiar with CMM (Capability Maturity Model) to bridge the gap from quality to IT.

    I’m sorry to hear that you are being affected by a reduction in force. You have a positive outlook on the situation, which is wonderful and quite inspiring. Good luck in your future endeavors.

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    April 25, 2010 at 6:20 am #190053

    Strayer
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    There are a lot of possible directions so I can’t recommend without knowing your backgrond. Don’t consider this unless you have experience working in/with IT. You need the technical chops to make this transition. Good places to search for information on the fit and certifications include the Software Engineering Institute, the American Society for Quality, and the IT Services Management Forum.

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    April 26, 2010 at 11:37 am #190060

    harwood
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Thank You Nicole! I really want to be as positive as I can in this. I’ll look into CMM right away.

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    April 26, 2010 at 11:39 am #190061

    harwood
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Thank Straydog, My IT experience in a hands on sense is rather limited, but many of the projects and consulting relationships that Ive been involved in have provided exposure. Honestly, thats the crux of my question. “How can I start to make the transition towards a more techincal career path while building off my Six Sigma and other quality experience’.

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    May 2, 2010 at 3:25 am #190104

    Strayer
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    You might consider starting as a software tester. Be aware that this is ill paid grunt work, usually with little advancement opportunity. Many IT organizations just don’t get it. They still equate quality with testing. But you would be able to learn IT through association and possibly impress others with your knowledge of what quality really means.

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    May 5, 2010 at 1:39 pm #190119

    Elizabeth
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    I started in IT as the Office Manager–with a Master’s degree in Library Science. B) If you think you have the analytical mindset, an IT career is definitely a possiblility. You don’t have to be a developer, there are many management & analyst roles as well.

    You might want to look at ITIL “ITIL gives detailed descriptions of a number of important IT practices and provides comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organization can tailor to its needs. ITIL is published in a series of books, each of which covers an IT management topic.”

    You can get multi-levels of certification–always a nice feature for a resume. ITIL is complementary to CMM.

    The tester role is one entry level option. You can get certified in testing as well so some people make a career of it.

    I’d also look at analyst/business analyst roles–especially if you could find a company in a field where you already have some experience.

    Good luck!

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    January 24, 2012 at 3:27 pm #192115

    Brian
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    An option you may want to explore is Project/Program management or service delivery management. Depending on your background if you have relevant experience in finance or sales as an example, then those experiences could be applied to a PM role or service management role at a consulting or outsourcing firm. ITIL is also a good one as it is now being recognized in the U.S. as the language of IT.

    Good luck in your new career!

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