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.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Quality Control Chemist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.08 an hour? That's $56,317 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
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.
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.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Quality Control Chemist. When we researched the most common majors for a Quality Control Chemist, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Quality Control Chemist resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Quality Control Chemist. In fact, many Quality Control Chemist jobs require experience in a role such as Chemist. Meanwhile, many Quality Control Chemists also have previous career experience in roles such as Laboratory Technician or Research Assistant.