What is the remuneration package for quality assurance professionals?

• The salary for quality assurance jobs is quite lucrative because of the highly stressful and physical demands of the professional.
• The salary for this professional depends on factors such as experience in the industry, area of employment, geographical location of employment etc.
• The average median salary for a quality assurance professional is calculated to be $105,128 annually.
• The top ten percentile of professionals earn salary more than $118,512 annually while the lowest ten percentile of professionals receive a salary up to $77,297 per annum.
• They are also given bonus for their extra work which ranges around $970 – $14,930 for a year.
• Professionals with experience of one to five years in the profession receive a salary ranging around $35,741 – $77,565 annually and on the other hand professionals with less than one year of experience in the industry receive salary ranging around $32,438 – $73,974 annually.
• Quality assurance professionals who are employed in the Pharmaceuticals industry receive a salary ranging around $50,561 – $123,857 per annum while those employed in the Aerospace and Defense industry receive a salary ranging around $56,837 – $127,765 annually.
• Salary differs with geographical location.
• It is observed that professionals who are employed in the state of Texas earn a salary ranging around $42,773 – $107,803 per annum compared to quality assurance professionals who are employed in the state if New York and receive a salary ranging around $45,719 – $105,192 annually.
• Apart from the salaries, these professionals also enjoy benefits such as paid holiday trips, paid sick leaves, life insurance policies etc as part of their employment in the organization.

An overview of the job of a Quality Assurance Professional:

Quality assurance forms an important component in every stage of a company’s production activities be it services or goods that are being produced. Professionals who are employed in this field play a valuable role in the company who ensure the success of the organization by monitoring the quality of goods and services inside the organization. However, this is done through various different methods based on the type of work. The work environment for a quality assurance job varies from industry to industry and they may be exposed to harmful vapors and chemicals and be asked to work in extreme weather conditions of hot and prolonged cold periods. Quality assurance professionals are expected to have strong ethics, responsible and honest.

A quality manager takes the highest position in the quality assurance job and he is often referred to as a quality monitoring manager. This professional is responsible for the development and implementation of quality management procedures and regulations in an organization. In short, he is given the responsibility of ensuring the quality by giving assurance for all the products manufactured in the company without any errors or flaws and are produced with highest quality standards. These professionals make sure if there is smooth progress of marketing and manufacturing activities. Quality assurance job requires the professionals to totally understand the processes of the production activities of the company and then establish a mutual understanding with the line members who are involved in the actual manufacturing processes and its working.

These professionals are generally employed in the information technology environment and their role is to examine the processes, products, employees and equipment in order to ensure that the operations are in accordance with the company’s rules, regulations and specifications. The most common job titles of a quality assurance job are quality assurance analyst, quality assurance manager, quality assurance engineer and test engineer.

What is the certification and licensure given to Quality Assurance professional?

• Certification and licensure is not mandatory to enter into the field of quality assurance field but however, it gives an edge over the other professionals.
• The American Society for Quality offers fifteen different types of certifications for quality assurance workers.
• These certifications are given to applicants after approving on a certain number of years of experience in the industry after passing the mandatory examination.
• However, the requirements for certifications vary from one state to the other.
• As such, the best place to acquire certification and a license is from the department of licensing in the state you reside in.

What are the skills needed for a Quality Assurance job?

Besides educational requirements, these professionals also require a certain set of skills and abilities in order to carry out their daily duties and responsibilities as part of their profession.

These skills would help them to excel in the profession thus moving them to higher positions in the field.

Following are the skills and abilities required for the job of a quality assurance job:

Skill Set:

• Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills are required for this professional as he has to communicate and coordinate with a number of people. He is given the responsibility to assign duties and also to understand and communicate the work progress precisely to higher authorities. Thus, for all this a good command over language is required.
• Ability to interpret Technical information: Quality assurance professionals are required to interpret a variety of technical information related to the manufacturing and distribution of goods and services that are produced inside the organization. Understanding of this technical information is required as it helps in the implementation of work procedures.
• Ability to work with machines: These professionals must develop the skill to operate production equipment which forms the essential of this career. Majority of their work is based on operating machines in order to produce goods and services and thus, it is important for them to develop the skill to operate these machines.
• Organizational Skills: Quality assurance professionals should have the ability to define problems by collecting relevant information and establishing facts and providing valid conclusions and solutions by properly organizing their word activities.
• Computer Literate: These professionals must be able to work with the use of automated software’s which makes their work easier and more efficient.

How to train for the job of Quality Assurance?

The position of a quality assurance job requires a certain set of educational qualifications which would help the professional to carry out the technical and administrative operations given to him as part of his job role in the organization.

Following are the educational requirements to obtain a post in the quality assurance job field:

Educational Requirements:

• The minimum educational requirement to enter into the field of quality assurance is a bachelor’s degree in the field of computer science any other related field.
• This study must include subjects of Java, C++, and Python etc.
• A further master’s degree in the field of business administration majoring in any of the related subjects would prove beneficial in acquiring a post in the quality assurance job.
• However, the educational requirements differ with industry. Like for example, a candidate who wants to work in the quality assurance department in the aviation industry would require a high school diploma combined with an aeronautical engineering degree.
• They also receive on the job training which gives then credentials combined with an edge over the skills in the industry.
• In short, specific schools offer on-the-job training programs depending on the nature and needs on the business entity.
• Candidates who have background courses to industrial field obtain a higher chance of getting into the field of quality assurance professions.
• Courses of science such as chemistry with laboratory work will enhance the skills of quickly entering the field of quality assurance.
• In today’s advanced technological world, one of the most important elements to enter into this field is having a knowledge electronics combined with specialization in robotics.
• In short, mechanical aptitude is required to move to higher positions in the industry.

What the obligations of a quality assurance professional?

The duties and responsibilities given to a quality assurance job vary from one industry to the other depending on the nature and size of the organization.

However, it is seen that the post of a quality assurance is enumerated with a number of job duties and responsibilities.

Following are some of the basic and primary duties and responsibilities of a quality assurance job in any field of industry:

Duties:

• The primary duty of a quality assurance job is to inspect the sampling manufacturing process and determine the business statistics and document for improvement in the required areas.
• It forms the duty of a quality assurance officer at any level of the job to supervise the safety regulations by taking all the required safety equipment and encouraging the staff to handle the difficulties with the help of practicing safe working methodologies.
• They are given the duty to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of products before processing them so that they can make suggestions to increase the standards of the product.
• Quality assurance job professionals are also involved in developing and implementing changes in plans and recording the results after observing and inspecting the results of the audits.
• An important duty of quality assurance is to initiate quality assurance plans which will help to control the process and procedures that will help to complete good qualified products with certain standards.

Responsibilities:

• These professionals take the responsibility of recruiting and training new personnel to the quality assurance department which will enable them to perform their tasks effectively managing the budget of the quality assurance department and performing various other administrative functions.
• They are responsible for setting up all the general requirements for quality assurance specifications in order to produce well finished products by the organization.
• It is the responsibility of a quality assurance professional to review the policies of the organization and improvise them as and when required based on the existing quality standards of the organization.
• Quality assurance professionals take the responsibility of educating the marketing and sales department about the requirements of the clients which will help them to create selling strategies.
• These professionals are responsible for reviewing the policies of the company to confirm that they are in accordance with the safety regulations and financial policies of the legislation.