Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality assurance technicians and process technicians 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 technician and a process technician. Additionally, a quality assurance technician has an average salary of $40,027, which is higher than the $39,462 average annual salary of a process technician.
The top three skills for a quality assurance technician include food safety, GMP and lab equipment. The most important skills for a process technician are basic math, patients, and OSHA.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Process Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $40,027 | $39,462 |
| Hourly rate | $19.24 | $18.97 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,534 | 74,367 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Quality assurance is an essential part of a company that offers products and services. It is critical that the company's output remains consistent and up to par with community standards. It is the assistant quality assurance manager's role to inspect, monitor, and evaluate the quality of every product. The goal is to establish customer satisfaction and trust. The assistant quality assurance manager works with the head manager and helps generate reports of daily activities for executive evaluations.
A process technician is responsible for managing the equipment and machinery used for various industries, such as manufacturing and engineering. Process technicians must have a strong knowledge of the mechanical industry, especially on operating certain equipment types and making adjustments on its features as needed, depending on the needs of the operation. They also run diagnostic tests to check a machine's working condition to ensure that it's free of any inconsistencies. A process technician also helps develop structure methods by communicating with the technical team and escalating all defective findings to the supervisor.
Quality assurance technicians and process technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Process Technician | |
| Average salary | $40,027 | $39,462 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $60,000 | Between $30,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Santa Clara, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | SMTC | HP |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance technician and a process technician in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Process Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Purdue University | Purdue University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance technicians' and process technicians' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Process Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4% | Male, 73.2% Female, 26.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |