Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality assurance representatives and quality assurance consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a quality assurance representative and a quality assurance consultant. Additionally, a quality assurance consultant has an average salary of $86,486, which is higher than the $43,867 average annual salary of a quality assurance representative.
The top three skills for a quality assurance representative include maintenance procedures, patients and safety procedures. The most important skills for a quality assurance consultant are QA, manual test cases, and regression.
| Quality Assurance Representative | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $43,867 | $86,486 |
| Hourly rate | $21.09 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 69,120 | 91,395 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Quality assurance inspectors are responsible for inspecting, testing, and sampling products, materials, or parts for any defects and deviations from company standards. They are tasks to reject any materials, equipment, and products that don't meet specifications. It is their job to discuss inspection results with personnel responsible for the products, and suggest needed corrective actions. To be qualified as a quality assurance inspector, one should have a high school diploma and a college degree, attentive to detail, and have excellent communication skills.
A quality assurance consultant specializes in recommending and optimizing quality-control procedures ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They typically conduct research and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current quality control operations, implement solutions on problem areas, review policies and regulations, and coordinate with other staff to gather necessary data, analyzing them to find new opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, as a quality assurance consultant, it is essential to recommend solutions in adherence to the company's policies and regulations, including its mission and vision.
Quality assurance representatives and quality assurance consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Representative | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Average salary | $43,867 | $86,486 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $79,000 | Between $67,000 And $110,000 |
| Highest paying City | Lompoc, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Eli Lilly and Company | Southern California Edison |
| Best paying industry | Government | Finance |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance representative and a quality assurance consultant in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Representative | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance representatives' and quality assurance consultants' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Representative | Quality Assurance Consultant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.8% Female, 39.2% | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |