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As you can imagine, when you're working in a lab, it's important to make sure that everything's done right. Just one mistake could be disastrous. The quality control chemists are the ones who ensure that everything is done properly. To do this, they prepare, measure, and test samples, lab materials, and products according to industry-specific standard procedures. They typically work in the pharmaceutical or manufacturing fields as part of a team effort.

If you decide to work in this field, you'll need to interpret test results, compare them to established specifications, perform visual inspections of finished products, and complete documentation needed to support testing procedures. You'll also need to be safety-conscious since you'll often work with hazardous materials.

If you're thinking of becoming a quality control chemist, you'll typically need a Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biology, or a related field. Experience working in a manufacturing lab and knowledge of analytical testing techniques are also very beneficial.

What Does a Quality Control Chemist Do

There are certain skills that many quality control chemists 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 math skills.

Learn more about what a Quality Control Chemist does

How To Become a Quality Control Chemist

If you're interested in becoming a quality control chemist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 81.5% of quality control chemists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 11.7% of quality control chemists have master's degrees. Even though most quality control chemists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Quality Control Chemist

Career Path For a Quality Control Chemist

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 control chemist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as analytical chemist, progress to a title such as scientist and then eventually end up with the title senior research associate.

Quality Control Chemist

Average Salary for a Quality Control Chemist

Quality Control Chemists in America make an average salary of $58,892 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $75,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $45,000 per year.
Average Quality Control Chemist Salary
$58,892 Yearly
$28.31 hourly

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Roles and Types of Quality Control Chemist

The role of a quality control chemist 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 control chemist responsibilities:

  • Performs raw material, finished goods, intermediate,
  • Must have excellent understanding of analytical chemistry. Full scientific understanding of analytical weighing, use of volumetric glassware (pipets, burettes, flasks, etc. ), capabilities
  • Ensure compliance to cgmp in the quality control laboratory. Development of analytical methods of new dp

There are several types of quality control chemist, including:

Quality Control Technician

Role:

As a Quality Control Technician, you will test and assess materials before, during, and after a production process in order to ensure efficiency. You will implement policies and regulations, maintain a productive and safe working environment, and produce reports.

Since you are dealing with a lot of information as a Quality Control Technician, you need to have great analytical skills. You need to be able to identify relevant information from the pool of information you have and interpret data in the best way possible. Next is communication skills. You need to always be clear and efficient when communicating with the people you're working with. Lastly, you need to be detail-oriented and mindful of details at all times.

You can earn an annual average salary of $35,038 as a Quality Control Technician. You can also explore other careers and climb up your career ladder after some time. You can be a Laboratory Technician, a Quality Assistance Technician, a Quality Assurance Supervisor, or a Quality Assurance Manager.

  • Average Salary: $40,337
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Quality Control

Role:

Quality control inspectors monitor the quality of production procedures, as well as materials and products coming in and out of manufacturing sites or company premises. They run tests and log defects of products or procedures at assembly lines, laboratories, or quality control departments.

Quality control focuses on the inspection aspect of quality management and fulfilling quality requirements, as opposed to monitoring processes, which is more along the area of quality assurance.

Summing up to much more than error hunting, the position of quality control inspectors is a widely misunderstood one, burdened by many stereotypes. One of them, strangely enough, is a gender stereotype assuming that women perform better at quality control. Multitasking and attention to detail do seem to be skills ladies tend to beat quality control dudes at, as well as empathy and communication. But deciding whether a job is for men or women is pointless. If you like it, it is for you. Who says you have to be like other men? Or women?
  • Average Salary: $32,824
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Chemist

Role:

If you're looking for a career that will blow all the other careers out of the water, becoming a chemist will quite literally do that. At least the blowing up part. Chemists get to study how substance interact with each other, while studying them at atomic and molecular levels.

You won't have to worry about any schedule changes because chemists tend to keep regular, full-time hours. Plus, you'll get to work in a lab. It'll be like "Dexter's Laboratory" and you could be Dexter! But seriously, blowing stuff up is where it's at.
  • Average Salary: $64,961
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Quality Control Chemist Jobs

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

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quality Control Chemist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,742$55,480
2Texas2,159$60,872
3Florida1,796$49,334
4New York1,731$56,858
5Pennsylvania1,683$56,873
6North Carolina1,612$55,565
7Illinois1,581$51,893
8New Jersey1,358$69,637
9Georgia1,327$57,321
10Virginia1,292$67,355
11Ohio1,291$53,474
12Massachusetts1,241$71,036
13Maryland1,137$67,751
14Minnesota1,072$58,625
15Michigan1,058$61,142
16Indiana1,015$50,386
17Washington985$71,652
18Wisconsin892$51,978
19Missouri719$61,382
20Tennessee690$71,415
21Colorado679$50,723
22Arizona678$52,043
23South Carolina571$53,265
24Oregon557$50,280
25Alabama543$53,361
26Connecticut537$69,916
27Kentucky513$61,109
28Utah506$48,753
29Iowa469$56,312
30New Hampshire352$63,217
31Kansas333$58,037
32Arkansas307$48,945
33Mississippi254$55,103
34Nebraska253$47,955
35Nevada233$49,465
36New Mexico230$58,292
37Louisiana219$60,749
38Oklahoma211$53,817
39Delaware193$69,270
40Idaho177$57,601
41Rhode Island158$71,449
42Maine141$54,177
43West Virginia119$60,960
44North Dakota101$54,219
45Montana99$59,855
46Hawaii88$59,353
47Vermont81$82,092
48South Dakota80$59,771
49Alaska78$63,641
50Wyoming67$43,335

Quality Control Chemist Education

Quality Control Chemist Majors

51.9 %
18.1 %

Quality Control Chemist Degrees

Bachelors

81.5 %

Masters

11.7 %

Associate

4.1 %

Top Colleges for Quality Control Chemists

1. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

4. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,816

Enrollment

6,840

7. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

8. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

9. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

10. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

Top Skills For a Quality Control Chemist

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, 9.2% of quality control chemists listed qc on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Control Chemist Resume templates

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

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Quality Control Chemist diversity

Quality Control Chemist Gender Distribution

Male
Male
57%
Female
Female
44%

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

  • Among quality control chemists, 43.5% of them are women, while 56.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among quality control chemists is White, which makes up 56.8% of all quality control chemists.

  • The most common foreign language among quality control chemists is Spanish at 38.3%.

Online Courses For Quality Control Chemist That You May Like

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1. Data Science Methods for Quality Improvement

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Data analysis skills are widely sought by employers, both nationally and internationally. This specialization is ideal for anyone interested in data analysis for improving quality and processes in business and industry. The skills taught in this specialization have been used extensively to improve business performance, quality, and reliability.\n\nBy completing this specialization, you will improve your ability to analyze data and interpret results as well as gain new skills, such as using...

2. Total Data Quality

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This specialization aims to explore the Total Data Quality framework in depth and provide learners with more information about the detailed evaluation of total data quality that needs to happen prior to data analysis. The goal is for learners to incorporate evaluations of data quality into their process as a critical component for all projects. We sincerely hope to disseminate knowledge about total data quality to all learners, such as data scientists and quantitative analysts, who have not had...

3. 7 Quality Tools for Quality Management and Improvements.

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A complete Crash Course on the 7 Basic Tools for Quality Management and its Implementation using MS Excel...

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Best States For a Quality Control Chemist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality control chemist. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, Washington, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Quality control chemists make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $82,092. Whereas in Washington and Rhode Island, they would average $71,652 and $71,449, respectively. While quality control chemists would only make an average of $71,415 in Tennessee, 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

Total Quality Control Chemist Jobs: 537
Highest 10% Earn:
$91,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

2. New Jersey

Total Quality Control Chemist Jobs: 1,358
Highest 10% Earn:
$91,000
Location Quotient:
1.24

3. Rhode Island

Total Quality Control Chemist Jobs: 158
Highest 10% Earn:
$92,000
Location Quotient:
0.94
Full List Of Best States For Quality Control Chemists

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Top Quality Control Chemist Employers

Most Common Employers For Quality Control Chemist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1BASF$72,632$34.9220
2Teva Pharmaceuticals$66,456$31.9540
3Sandoz$65,653$31.5658
4Pfizer$65,194$31.3424
5Johnson Matthey Plc$65,183$31.3433
6Merck$64,098$30.8217
7Hydrite$63,237$30.4028
8Tris Pharma$61,106$29.3858
9Mylan$60,467$29.0755
10URL Pharma$60,456$29.0723

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