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The differences between quality assurance technicians and quality assurance representatives 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 quality assurance representative. Additionally, a quality assurance representative has an average salary of $43,867, which is higher than the $40,027 average annual salary of a quality assurance technician.
The top three skills for a quality assurance technician include food safety, GMP and lab equipment. The most important skills for a quality assurance representative are maintenance procedures, patients, and safety procedures.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Assurance Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $40,027 | $43,867 |
| Hourly rate | $19.24 | $21.09 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,534 | 69,120 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| 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.
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.
Quality assurance technicians and quality assurance representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Assurance Representative | |
| Average salary | $40,027 | $43,867 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $60,000 | Between $24,000 And $79,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Lompoc, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Washington |
| Best paying company | SMTC | Eli Lilly and Company |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Government |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance technician and a quality assurance representative in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Assurance Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Purdue University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance technicians' and quality assurance representatives' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Quality Assurance Representative | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4% | Male, 60.8% Female, 39.2% |
| 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, 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 | 6% | 11% |