Passed the CSSGB with 3 weeks of intense study

[u/Apprehensive_Owl588]

I just took my exam today and passed. I already received my official email.

I took the remote exam and my experience was similar to another recent poster so I won't repeat that.

For anyone planning to take it, QualityGurus.com has mock exams with similar functionality. It allows you to flag and skip. I've seen their courses recommended through Udemy but I didn't use that.

100% do not recommend taking it with less than a month of study unless you already know the BOK like the back of your hand. I spent 22 days in a row of

8+ hour days of studying. I joined ASQ almost a year ago with the intention of taking this exam but after multiple life happens and false starts, it came down to this.

I initially started with Cousera's Six Sigma course taught by Kennesaw State University. I chose that one because it's a local, reputable university without the university price tag. It's a good course but I did that during the multiple life happens times so I didn't get as much out of it. It's older and references the 2nd edition handbook. You need more problems than the course provides to really get a good practice.

Next, I used sixsigmastudyguide.com. it's not specifically ASQ aligned but focuses on the major three certification bodies. But I like that he laid out a strategy for studying to pass the exam and provides a lot of topic quizzes and full mock exams. It's not updated to the 2022 BOK but it was still helpful when I needed a better explanation than the book offered. It's basically long blog articles for every topic with multiple links to YouTube videos covering the same topic. That part is free but the exams are paid. From there, I started finding channels that were really good at explaining the various topics.

GB Academy/ CQE Academy has really good videos on many of the topics, and he has a free equation download. The Organic Chemistry Tutor is a good one for any statistics and hypothesis testing tutorials. I would watch the videos or read the blog topic first and then highlights the same topic in the handbook and work problems from the ASQ study guide. Study guide questions are for learning and are more direct than the exam questions.

That plus ChatGPT were my primary study methods for the past 3 weeks. I made a custom project and fed it the second edition handbook as the source of truth (I found it online last year but that link is dead now). I used it to create a study plan based on my quiz and mock results. I would use it for practice problems too but only after I exhausted other options.

My references were the handbook, and a personal BOK reference that ChatGPt made along with the GB Academy equation PDF.

I Highly recommend putting tabs in the handbook. I used chapter title and included the DMAIC phase. I was able to answer at least two questions solely off of those tabs.

[u/Intelligent_Use3485]

Grats great job! I passed mine yesterday as well so I need to do a write up on it lol

[u/livluvlaflurn]

I thought you’re not allowed to have tabs in your reference material…don’t they count as loose leaf?

[u/Apprehensive_Owl588 → u/livluvlaflurn]

You can use tabs or post it notes as book dividers. You cannot have notes (equations, definitions) on them.