As a Quality Assurance Specialist, you will monitor, inspect, and propose various measures aimed to improve or correct the product of a company. You will be outlining quality assurance policies to ensure quality standards. Therefore, you need to be extremely mindful of details.

In addition, you also need to have great analytical skills. You will be dealing with a lot of data and information as a Quality Assurance Specialist, so you should know how to filter these chunks of information and interpret them for your client. Next is communication skills. After studying data and relevant information, you need to be able to communicate your findings efficiently.

With a job growth rate of 6%, you can earn an annual average salary of $72,039 as a Quality Assurance Specialist. You also have the chance to take on other roles as a Quality Assurance Manager, a Quality Manager, and a Director of Quality if this is the path you plan to take.

What Does a Quality Assurance Specialist Do

There are certain skills that many quality assurance specialists 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, communication skills and detail oriented.

Learn more about what a Quality Assurance Specialist does

How To Become a Quality Assurance Specialist

If you're interested in becoming a quality assurance specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 58.3% of quality assurance specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.4% of quality assurance specialists have master's degrees. Even though most quality assurance specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Quality Assurance Specialist

Quality Assurance Specialist Job Description

A quality assurance specialist is a trained professional in charge of testing and designing products in order to ensure the necessary quality is present. Their duties include the documentation of quality assurance activities, maintaining records, and building upon existing data.

Learn more about Quality Assurance Specialist Job Description

Quality Assurance Specialist Career Paths

Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Specialist

Quality Assurance Specialists in America make an average salary of $63,443 per year or $31 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $97,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $41,000 per year.
Average Quality Assurance Specialist Salary
$63,443 Yearly
$30.50 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Quality Assurance Specialist

The role of a quality assurance specialist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general quality assurance specialist responsibilities:

  • Become well versed in all aspects of the qa job function, e.g. Processing of product improvement reports (pirs), quarantine, recovery, customer recovery
  • Include, but is not limited to, the following: help design with the company’s quality strategy
  • Perform iso formatted audits on our industrial services sites/facilities throughout north america

There are several types of quality assurance specialist, including:

Quality Assurance Analyst

Role:

Quality Assurance Analysts spend a lot of time ensuring that a product is up to the company's standards. From performing software audtis to coming up with processes that test quality, everything is about quality when it comes to your job.

QA analysts notice everything. That's because they're so detail-orientated that no small error will ever get by them. Well, I mean, they're still human so maybe a small error will get by from time to time. No one is perfect.

This job is super useful in a lot of different industries so if you're looking for a career that comes with a lot of opportunity, you're in luck. QA analysts are hired by gaming development companies and software product companies. And when a company's website is ready to launch, QA analysts get a sneak peak to make sure there aren't any errors.

  • Average Salary: $73,532
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Engineer

Role:

Quality assurance engineers test the quality of specifications and design of a product in order to ensure it works properly. Although this career isn't easily attainable, we can guarantee that it's worth every penny and second.

The job requires that you know quite an extensive amount of information in order to fill your role efficiently. That usually means a lot of education. The very least amount of education in this field is generally a bachelor's degree. Though most earn a master's degree.

A lot of your day-to-day will deal with software design, engineering and computer science. So maybe look into one of those degrees. Some quality assurance engineers require a license, in addition to the education. But that usually depends on the state and employer.

  • Average Salary: $82,215
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Assurance Lead

Role:

We have all witnessed the consequences of quality failures. The explosion of NASA Shuttle Challenger, resulting in the death of all 7 astronauts. The BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, resulting in 4 million oil barrels leaking into the Mexican Gulf. Although quality assurance does not seem to be discussed in shareholder's meetings, it should remain at the forefront of how a company leads an operation.

The primary role of a quality assurance lead is to oversee the testing of a product or service to ensure adherence to industry and the organization's standards. They are involved in developing testing plans, creating risk mitigation strategies, and liaising with the product team in suggesting process improvements.

Different industries will require different degrees for a quality assurance lead. For example, working in a food production facility will require a science-related degree, whereas working to maintain the TikTok platform will require an IT degree. A quality assurance lead earns an average of $39 per hour and generally works 40 hours a week.

  • Average Salary: $94,758
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Quality Assurance Specialist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active quality assurance specialist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where quality assurance specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quality Assurance Specialist Jobs By State

Quality Assurance Specialist Education

Quality Assurance Specialist Majors

25.9 %
9.9 %

Quality Assurance Specialist Degrees

Bachelors

58.3 %

Associate

17.6 %

Masters

10.4 %

Top Colleges for Quality Assurance Specialists

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Computer Science
Business
Biology
Education
Electrical Engineering

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Finance
Business
Nursing

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Business
Liberal Arts
Communication
Psychology

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Education
Electrical Engineering
Communication

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Education
Biology
Psychology

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Accounting
Psychology
Nursing
Computer Science

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Nursing
Business
Finance
Biology
Communication

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Biology
Psychology
Liberal Arts

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Finance
Business
Marketing
Computer Information Systems

Top Skills For a Quality Assurance Specialist

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, 6.2% of quality assurance specialists listed gmp on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Assurance Specialist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Quality Assurance Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Quality Assurance Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
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Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
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Quality Assurance Specialist Resume

Quality Assurance Specialist Demographics

Quality Assurance Specialist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
57%
Male
Male
43%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among quality assurance specialists, 57.2% of them are women, while 42.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among quality assurance specialists is White, which makes up 67.7% of all quality assurance specialists.

  • The most common foreign language among quality assurance specialists is Spanish at 63.3%.

Online Courses For Quality Assurance Specialist That You May Like

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1. Clinical Trials Data Management and Quality Assurance

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In this course, you’ll learn to collect and care for the data gathered during your trial and how to prevent mistakes and errors through quality assurance practices. Clinical trials generate an enormous amount of data, so you and your team must plan carefully by choosing the right collection instruments, systems, and measures to protect the integrity of your trial data. You’ll learn how to assemble, clean, and de-identify your datasets. Finally, you’ll learn to find and correct deficiencies...

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2. ISO 9001:2015-Quality Management System Implementation & Audit

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3. ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Auditor Course

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How to implement or audit a Quality Management System as per ISO 9001:2015...

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Best States For a Quality Assurance Specialist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality assurance specialist. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Quality assurance specialists make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $84,516. Whereas in Maryland and Connecticut, they would average $82,155 and $81,897, respectively. While quality assurance specialists would only make an average of $81,294 in New Jersey, 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. Maryland

Total Quality Assurance Specialist Jobs: 907
Highest 10% Earn:
$128,000
Location Quotient:
1.2

2. Connecticut

Total Quality Assurance Specialist Jobs: 423
Highest 10% Earn:
$121,000
Location Quotient:
1.07

3. Rhode Island

Total Quality Assurance Specialist Jobs: 141
Highest 10% Earn:
$122,000
Location Quotient:
0.98
Full List Of Best States For Quality Assurance Specialists

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Top Quality Assurance Specialist Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ quality assurance specialists and discovered their number of quality assurance specialist opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that DISH Network was the best, especially with an average salary of $54,429. Pfizer follows up with an average salary of $86,382, and then comes Salesforce with an average of $71,197. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a quality assurance specialist. The employers include United Therapeutics, Envision Healthcare, and Select Medical

Most Common Employers For Quality Assurance Specialist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1JPMorgan Chase & Co.$95,078$45.7175
2Amgen$92,165$44.3170
3Capital One$89,605$43.0855
4Bank of America$89,466$43.0167
5AT&T$88,486$42.5454
6Pfizer$86,382$41.53140
7American Red Cross$83,370$40.0847
8QTC Management$78,668$37.8282
9Xerox$72,092$34.6650
10Salesforce$71,197$34.23103

Quality Assurance Specialist Videos

Becoming a Quality Assurance Specialist FAQs

How Much Do Qa Testers Make?

QA testers make $33 an hour on average. A quality assurance tester can make anywhere from $27-$35 an hour on average, with the pay rate differing between companies.

Usually, larger software companies are willing to pay more for quality testing services, whereas smaller companies may opt to pay less per hour since they are still in the starting phases of their production.

What Are Careers In Quality Assurance?

Careers in quality assurance include quality coordinators, quality assurance testers, and quality assurance managers.

  1. Quality Coordinator

    A quality coordinator is responsible for tracking and providing quality assurance information. They ensure that a company is always compliant through each step of the process. They spend ample time analyzing data, reviewing policies, and looking for ways to improve.

    They are also responsible for training employees. Depending on your field, your job could involve testing, audits, and reviewing operations.

  2. Quality Assurance Tester

    Quality assurance testers work with teams to design tests and procedures. They also perform and analyze the tests and create reports.

    Typically they conduct software testing, assist in resolving issues, and ensure standards are being followed. Quality assurance testers often work with developers to create better software processes.

  3. Quality Assurance Manager

    Quality assurance managers oversee all of the activity in the quality assurance department. They lead the staff, their work, and system quality.

    They are responsible for resolving performance issues, encouraging corrections, and managing all reports about each quality assurance step. They must also keep an up-to-date quality management certification.

What Are The Top 3 Skills For A Quality Assurance Specialist?

The top 3 skills for a quality assurance specialist are communication, time management, and attention to detail. As a quality assurance specialist, you will be working among a team to guarantee that the final product observes the company's quality standards.

What Degree Do You Need To Work In Quality Assurance?

To work in quality assurance, you need at least a bachelor's degree. To become a quality assurance specialist, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or business management. These courses will help hone your troubleshooting and quality testing skills to discover possible flaws in a product.

What Does A Qa Specialist Do?

A QA specialist ensures that the final product adheres to the company's quality standards. A quality assurance specialist is responsible for detecting and resolving any issues within a product.

What Education Do You Need To Be A Quality Assurance Tester?

The education you need to be a quality assurance tester is a bachelor's degree in computer science or engineering. Other standard degree programs for a quality assurance tester include information systems technology and software engineering.

What Should I Study To Become A Qa Specialist?

You should study business management or computer science to become a QA specialist. To become a quality assurance specialist, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Business Management.

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