How To Become A Quality Control Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a quality control specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dennis Province Ph.D.

A quality control specialist is responsible for monitoring the quality of products created in different scientific, food production, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and technological industries. He/She inspects outgoing products to ensure that they are free of defects and meet internal specifications and external guidelines. He/She conducts lab tests, gathers and analyzes the data compiled, and makes recommendations for production improvements. Additionally, he/she evaluates the technologies used in producing the products to ensure they meet necessary standards. Also, he/she maintains laboratory and technical equipment used for product assessment.

Primarily, with a high school diploma or its equivalent, you can get a job. However, most employers now seek candidates with a degree in quality control or a related discipline. Skills for this job include problem-solving, communication, attention to detail, and analytical skills. Candidates must show familiarity with product specifications and expectations. You will be earning an annual average income of $46,974. This varies between $30,000 and $73,000.

What general advice would you give to a quality control specialist?

Dennis Province Ph.D.

Professor, Harding University

You never know where you will end up later in life and what skills you will need in the future. Open your mind and become a lifelong learner. Be a student of life and learn from others at every step of the journey. Employers are always looking for workers that show initiative. Decide where you want to work and what you think you might want to do and have the courage to contact someone, and let them know! Most jobs or opportunities are found and decided with an informal conversation. Employers want the best people and those tend to be type that take the initiative.

ScoreQuality Control SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,281

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.04%

Asian 10.43%

Black or African American 9.59%

Hispanic or Latino 16.95%

Unknown 5.87%

White 56.11%

Gender

female 51.66%

male 48.34%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a quality control specialist

Explore quality control specialist education requirements

Most common quality control specialist degrees

Bachelor's

52.4 %

Associate

19.8 %

High School Diploma

13.4 %

Start to develop specific quality control specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
GMP	8.39%
Patients	7.31%
Customer Service	5.83%
Corrective Action	4.55%
FDA	4.51%

Complete relevant quality control specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New quality control specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a quality control specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real quality control specialist resumes.

Gain additional quality control specialist certifications

Quality control specialist certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific quality control specialist certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for quality control specialists include Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

More About Certifications

Research quality control specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage office and run daily operations.
Coordinate and manage the document change process and maintain current revisions via a SharePoint web-base document management server.
Manage the quality control aspect of transferring client projects into SAFC's cGMP highly potent API contract manufacturing facility.
Review and manage quality control; run searches on database to scan for errors, generate reports and apply corrections accordingly.

Prepare your quality control specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your quality control specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a quality control specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable quality control specialist resume templates

Build a professional quality control specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your quality control specialist resume.