Jobs for quality assurance are not new. Ever since manufacturing and related services became available — i.e., since well before the Industrial Revolution — the quality assurance inspector has made sure that products and services meet certain standards. This has become increasingly true as organizations such as the Consumer Protection Agency have jumped on board to make sure consumers are protected and the services and products they buy are of the highest quality.
What Do Quality Assurance Jobs Entail?
If you work in quality assurance (also known as "QA"), your job, as a quality assurance inspector, is to make sure that products and services are of the highest quality and reliability. Quality assurance auditor jobs focus on inspecting and testing not just finished products, but products that are at various stages of production. Most industries have testing procedures that determine just what a product or service should entail. For example, a particular product may have given dimensions to the nth degree, or may have specific electrical, mechanical, or chemical make-ups that have to be met precisely each time in order to come out with the same product each time. As an illustration, even something as innocuous as laundry detergent must be formulated to the exact specifications of the successful product each time. If a given batch is not, it will not do as good a job as it is supposed to do. Because of that, sales (and therefore profits) are likely to go down. This has been true, incidentally, even when products have changed their formulations and consumers have not been as happy with them. As such, formulations have to be precise each time so that the exact same results are produced.
And of course, it becomes even more important that quality assurance standards are met when safety is involved. For example, child safety seats have to meet certain standards set by the federal government. Quality assurance inspectors not only make sure the seat itself is of good quality, but that it will not fall short of the safety standards it needs to meet.
How Do You Become a Quality Assurance Professional?
Most of the time, you're going to start your career as a statistician or engineer working in research and development in the industry you choose. Most quality assurance managers have undergraduate degrees in engineering or another related scientific field. There are some universities or colleges that offer both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in reliability or quality testing and technology. Therefore, your educational background is likely to be one where you've spent four to five years earning your bachelor's in engineering, for example, and then another couple of years earning a master's degree in reliability technology, perhaps. (This is just an example, and certain degree programs may look slightly different.) Regardless of the exact educational background you choose, you will also need a background in statistics to become a quality assurance manager.
Getting Employment When You're Just Starting Out
When you just start out in quality assurance, again, you're likely going to be a statistician or engineer in research and development. You may start at a particular company in that field and then work your way up to being a quality assurance manager. If you have QA experience or a master's degree, for example, in a quality assurance field, you may apply directly to manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, or similar companies for a job. Many trade magazines also list job openings, and state and private employment agencies may likewise list job openings.
One of the fastest and easiest ways to find work, though, is by going online and researching job listings. These online job listings are quite specific and will tell you exactly the background you need to have. When you find them, choose those that are in the industry or industries you desire to work in, and apply. Your resume should list relevant educational background, skills, and work history. It should be as concise and yet complete as possible; with engineering jobs especially, you want to be detailed in job descriptions and the skills you've utilized in specific jobs or positions.
Job Outlook and Salary
Quality assurance is a very diverse field; for that reason, it is not struggling as much as other sectors of the economy in which things are much more specialized. Nonetheless, you may have trouble finding quality assurance auditor jobs within your area of normal expertise, depending on how the industry is doing. Most quality assurance managers make about $70,000 a year.
Conclusion
Even in today's tight economy, there are plenty of quality assurance jobs to be had. In some cases, it depends on the industry you work in; for example, a large percentage of manufacturing jobs are now being done overseas. However, other fields, such as pharmaceuticals, are still largely domestic and still require quality control managers. In addition, as the economy recovers and as manufacturing and other jobs may move back to the US from overseas, QA jobs may improve in these sectors.
