A quality assurance specialist works for a company to test, inspect and sample materials, products, or parts for defects and any deviations from specifications. These specialists will discard anything that does not meet company standards, including materials and products used by the company in processing.
A QA specialist will also observe production operations and equipment to ensure that specifications are being met and make or order necessary adjustments to processes or assemblies. They will discuss results and findings with those in charge of the products and recommend any required corrective actions.
A high school diploma is required to obtain employment as a quality assurance or quality control specialist. A formal bachelor's or associate's degree is sometimes needed, depending on the employer. Previous experience carrying out an inspector's duties and responsibilities are preferable, but many companies can provide on-the-job training. Besides, QA specialists, in general, earn about $15 per hour.
You should be able to interpret blueprints and other drawings that detail product specifications. Hours will vary, but a specialist can plan to work a set schedule on the first, second, or third shift in a production factory or plant.
Quality Assurance Specialist Overview
Quality Assurance Specialist Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a quality assurance specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.63 an hour? That's $72,039 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 90,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
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.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a quality assurance specialist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 20.0% of quality assurance specialists included procedures, while 5.1% of resumes included regulatory agencies, and 4.7% of resumes included gmp. 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 specialist job title. But what industry to start with? Most quality assurance specialists actually find jobs in the technology and health care industries.
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 42.6% of quality assurance specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.1% 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.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a quality assurance specialist. When we researched the most common majors for a quality assurance specialist, 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 specialist resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a quality assurance specialist. In fact, many quality assurance specialist jobs require experience in a role such as customer service representative. Meanwhile, many quality assurance specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or cashier.
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Quality Assurance Specialist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a quality assurance specialist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as quality assurance manager, progress to a title such as quality manager and then eventually end up with the title director of quality.
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Average Salary for a Quality Assurance Specialist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Ameripro Roofing Quality Assurance Specialist Quality Assurance Specialist | Ameripro Roofing Ameripro Roofing | 03/30/2021 03/30/2021 | $20,87003/30/2021 $20,870 |
Randstad Quality Assurance Specialist Quality Assurance Specialist | Randstad Randstad | 03/30/2021 03/30/2021 | $41,74003/30/2021 $41,740 |
Department of Defense Quality Assurance Specialist Quality Assurance Specialist | Department of Defense Department of Defense | 03/29/2021 03/29/2021 | $50,47603/29/2021 $50,476 |
Department of Defense Quality Assurance Specialist Quality Assurance Specialist | Department of Defense Department of Defense | 03/29/2021 03/29/2021 | $50,47603/29/2021 $50,476 |
Ameripro Roofing Quality Assurance Specialist Quality Assurance Specialist | Ameripro Roofing Ameripro Roofing | 03/29/2021 03/29/2021 | $20,87003/29/2021 $20,870 |
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Quality Assurance Specialist Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Quality Assurance Specialist. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Quality Assurance Specialist Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Quality Assurance Specialist resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Quality Assurance Specialists
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Public
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
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, 20.0% of quality assurance specialists listed procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Procedures, 20.0%
- Regulatory Agencies, 5.1%
- GMP, 4.7%
- Quality Standards, 4.2%
- Test Scripts, 3.9%
- Other Skills, 62.1% See All Quality Assurance Specialist Skills
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 Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Quality assurance specialists make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $82,313. Whereas in Maryland and New Jersey, they would average $80,526 and $79,287, respectively. While quality assurance specialists would only make an average of $79,022 in Virginia, 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. Connecticut
$82,313
Avg. Salary
2. Maryland
$80,526
Avg. Salary
3. Virginia
$79,022
Avg. Salary
How Do Quality Assurance Specialist Rate Their Jobs?
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 $93,157. Pfizer follows up with an average salary of $89,501, and then comes Teletech Holdings with an average of $82,051. 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 Bloomberg, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and HCA Healthcare
Quality Assurance Specialist Videos
