Quality Assurance Scientist Overview
Working as a Quality Assurance Scientist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a quality assurance scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.43 an hour? That's $67,458 a year!
What Does a Quality Assurance Scientist Do
There are certain skills that many quality assurance scientists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, math skills and perseverance.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a quality assurance scientist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 5.7% of quality assurance scientists included gmp, while 5.0% of resumes included iso, and 4.8% of resumes included fda. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the quality assurance scientist job title. But what industry to start with? Most quality assurance scientists actually find jobs in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries.
How To Become a Quality Assurance Scientist
If you're interested in becoming a quality assurance scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.9% of quality assurance scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 38.7% of quality assurance scientists have master's degrees. Even though most quality assurance scientists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a quality assurance scientist. When we researched the most common majors for a quality assurance scientist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on quality assurance scientist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a quality assurance scientist. In fact, many quality assurance scientist jobs require experience in a role such as laboratory technician. Meanwhile, many quality assurance scientists also have previous career experience in roles such as chemist or research assistant.
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Quality Assurance Scientist Jobs
Quality Assurance Scientist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of quality assurance specialist you might progress to a role such as quality assurance manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title quality assurance director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Scientist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
City of Loveland Water Quality Scientist I Water Quality Scientist I | City of Loveland City of Loveland | 04/23/2020 04/23/2020 | $49,87904/23/2020 $49,879 |
Firstcarbon Solutions Quality Assurance Scientist Quality Assurance Scientist | Firstcarbon Solutions Firstcarbon Solutions | 12/17/2019 12/17/2019 | $54,00012/17/2019 $54,000 |
Firstcarbon Solutions Quality Assurance Scientist Quality Assurance Scientist | Firstcarbon Solutions Firstcarbon Solutions | 09/21/2019 09/21/2019 | $54,00009/21/2019 $54,000 |
Firstcarbon Solutions Quality Assurance Scientist Quality Assurance Scientist | Firstcarbon Solutions Firstcarbon Solutions | 08/23/2019 08/23/2019 | $54,00008/23/2019 $54,000 |
Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. Quality Scientist, Chemistry Quality Scientist, Chemistry | Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 08/05/2019 08/05/2019 | $82,10908/05/2019 $82,109 |
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Top Colleges for Quality Assurance Scientists
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA
2. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
5. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
6. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
7. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC
9. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
10. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Quality Assurance Scientist
Top Skills For a Quality Assurance Scientist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 5.7% of quality assurance scientists listed gmp on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and math skills are important as well.
- GMP, 6.4%
- FDA, 4.5%
- Data Analysis, 4.3%
- Corrective Actions, 4.3%
- ISO, 4.3%
- Other Skills, 76.2% See All Quality Assurance Scientist Skills
Best States For a Quality Assurance Scientist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality assurance scientist. The best states for people in this position are Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Delaware. Quality assurance scientists make the most in Maine with an average salary of $90,340. Whereas in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, they would average $86,243 and $85,002, respectively. While quality assurance scientists would only make an average of $82,563 in Delaware, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Hampshire
$85,003
Avg. Salary
2. Delaware
$82,564
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$86,243
Avg. Salary
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