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The differences between quality associates and quality consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality consultant has an average salary of $79,541, which is higher than the $50,300 average annual salary of a quality associate.
The top three skills for a quality associate include patients, QA and quality system. The most important skills for a quality consultant are healthcare, data collection, and project management.
| Quality Associate | Quality Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $50,300 | $79,541 |
| Hourly rate | $24.18 | $38.24 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 60,168 | 88,944 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A quality associate is responsible for ensuring that a new product meets standards for usage and operating. You will perform various tasks that include assisting in identifying quality problems and improving operational processes, writing, disseminating, and maintaining quality documentation and manuals, and verifying logs and databases to monitor and flag quality issues and improvements. In addition, you are responsible for supporting document control and quality audits, reviewing reports and validation protocols, and investigating and diagnosing quality complaints.
A quality consultant specializes in developing and recommending strategies to optimize a company's production and quality assurance operations. Their responsibilities typically revolve around understanding the company's project goals and requirements, performing extensive research and analysis, gathering and analyzing product data, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current quality control procedures, and studying the clients' feedback. Through their research findings, a consultant draws and presents conclusions, along with recommendations and solutions against vulnerable areas. Moreover, a quality consultant may enhance policies and regulations, suggesting new ones when necessary.
Quality associates and quality consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Associate | Quality Consultant | |
| Average salary | $50,300 | $79,541 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $80,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | California |
| Best paying company | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Aetna |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality associate and a quality consultant in terms of educational background:
| Quality Associate | Quality Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between quality associates' and quality consultants' demographics:
| Quality Associate | Quality Consultant | |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 44.8% Female, 55.2% | Male, 57.8% Female, 42.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 11% |