What does a quality control technician do?
Usually assigned in a manufacturing plant, a quality control technician's role focuses on testing and assessing materials before, after, and during a production process to ensure its efficiency. They also have responsibilities in implementing the policies and regulations of the company, all to maintain a safe and productive working environment for every employee. Furthermore, a quality control technician must produce necessary reports and documentation, coordinate with managers and supervisors, maintain accurate documentation, and oversee a team to secure quality standard outcomes.
Quality control technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real quality control technician resumes:
- Direct and manage the release of FDA regulate and monitor bacterial cultures and vitamin additives for product development.
- Aid in development and maintenance of SPC program achieving product performance stability and creating a platform for continuous improvement.
- Work with personnel to ensure all food safety programs such as HACCP, SSOP, and GMP's, are follow.
- Work on the structure of on-line supply info system base on HMI, PLC and SQL.
- Calculate requirements, using basic math, geometry and trigonometry.
- Use furnaces, band saws, blasters, torches, acids, and micrometers.
- Practice GLP and aseptic technique.
- Update and maintain the center SharePoint mainframe.
- Experience with MQSA inspection and ACR accreditation policies.
- Determine protein concentration (A280) by UV/VIS spectrophotometry.
- Perform UV/Vis and wet chemical analysis to support process control.
- Conduct visual inspections as well as any NDE need on tank repairs.
- Add SQL interfacing to the optimal energy storage controller for real-time data communication.
- Perform visual and NDT on fabricate traffic light poles for cities and highways nationwide.
- Inspect product using micrometers, calibration, ruler, and smart scope and drop gauge.
Quality control technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Quality Control Technicians are proficient in Lab Equipment, Quality Control Tests, and Test Results. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Quality Control Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Lab Equipment, 7%
Monitored the status of validation/qualification and preventative maintenance for lab equipment and correspond with Maintenance, QA and Building Coordinator.
- Quality Control Tests, 6%
Inspected and tested electronic assemblies used by U.S. military and commercial aircraft clients produced Quality Control test reports for section supervisors
- Test Results, 6%
Recorded test results in database for pass/fail determinations and maintained orderly documents and reports for quality records within laboratory information system.
- Asphalt, 5%
Collected asphalt samples and conducted experiments for acceptable aggregate moisture content.
- Quality Products, 4%
Accomplished and experienced in inspecting processes while simultaneously managing calibrated production/ inspection tools and equipment to ensure quality products.
- Quality Standards, 4%
Develop and coordinate special activities and programs necessary to meet and maintain quality standards and reliability of manufactured products.
Most quality control technicians use their skills in "lab equipment," "quality control tests," and "test results" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential quality control technician responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a quality control technician to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what quality control technicians do because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians assess changes in conditions, operations, and the environment to help industrial engineers figure out how systems should work." Additionally, a quality control technician resume shows how quality control technicians use analytical skills: "analyzed pharmaceutical products to ensure the quality according to fda regulations. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling quality control technician duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must listen carefully to instructions from engineers and must clearly articulate problems to their supervisors." According to a quality control technician resume, here's how quality control technicians can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "assist in regulatory communications, and participate in fda, foreign regulatory agencies, and third party inspections. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for quality control technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how quality control technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must record precisely what they measure and observe." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a quality control technician: "used attention to detail to accurately compose product reports reviewed by fda. ".
Math skills. A big part of what quality control technicians do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to quality control technician responsibilities because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians use mathematics and statistical techniques to analyze data collected from studies." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical quality control technician tasks: "performed standardized qualitative and quantitative tests on work-in-process and finished products to ensure compliance with company and customer quality standards. "
The three companies that hire the most quality control technicians are:
- CEM
115 quality control technicians jobs
- Oldcastle Infrastructure82 quality control technicians jobs
- Kelly Services40 quality control technicians jobs
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Compare different quality control technicians
Quality control technician vs. Auditor/quality
A quality auditor is responsible for inspecting the company's services and products, ensuring its adherence to business requirements and internal regulations. Quality auditors analyze the efficiency of operational functions and production processes to maintain high-quality deliverables with the utmost consideration for the safety and security of the production staff. They run quality checks for the outputs, create findings reports, and strategize methodologies to enhance stability by utilizing standard testing parameters. A quality auditor must have excellent communication and organizational skills, as they may also recommend opportunities to generate more resources and increase revenues.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a quality control technician are more likely to require skills like "lab equipment," "quality control tests," "asphalt," and "food safety." On the other hand, a job as an auditor/quality requires skills like "excellent interpersonal," "excellent organizational," "audit findings," and "audit results." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Auditors/quality tend to make the most money working in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,479. In contrast, quality control technicians make the biggest average salary, $45,814, in the health care industry.On average, auditors/quality reach similar levels of education than quality control technicians. Auditors/quality are 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Quality control technician vs. Quality lead
A quality assurance (QA) lead is responsible for organizing and managing the testing of products prior to its release. Your duties will include defining testing standards and strategies, establishing formal QA processes, and overseeing all aspects of QA, such as using best practices and establishing metrics. Additionally, you are responsible for supervising and mentoring QA team members, and developing and implementing scripts, test cases, and procedures. You are also responsible for managing off quality products and developing and institutionalizing ISO complaints.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that quality control technician responsibilities requires skills like "lab equipment," "quality control tests," "asphalt," and "quality products." But a quality lead might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "continuous improvement," "product quality," "project management," and "process improvement."
On average, quality leads earn a higher salary than quality control technicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, quality leads earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $92,715. Whereas quality control technicians have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $45,814.In general, quality leads achieve higher levels of education than quality control technicians. They're 8.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for quality control technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Gerald Bergtrom Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences (Emeritus) & Teaching & Learning Consultant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
-Medical science will need to respond to new challenges arising out of climate change and the aging population. Supported (as always) by basic sciences, medical science will focus on big-picture biology, represented by the ever-growing number of "...omics". These include genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics... and the enabling technologies that let us look at a lot of genes, gene products, and biochemical reactions at the same time. Finally, the ever-improving gene-editing technologies can lead to the treatment of disease, leading to a greater understanding of the disease and biological process in general.
Quality control technician vs. Engineering technician
An Engineering Technician's duties vary according to the industry or company, whether mechanical, industrial, civil, agricultural, or more. However, most of the time, the responsibilities often revolve around resolving technical issues, working with and assisting Engineers in building, assembling, designing, gathering and testing data, and conducting more manual activities. Furthermore, Engineering Technicians can specialize and work in various fields after a certain training period, closely mentored or monitored by an engineer or someone with extensive expertise.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from quality control technician resumes include skills like "quality control tests," "quality products," "quality standards," and "gmp," whereas an engineering technician is more likely to list skills in "technical support," "data collection," "construction projects," and "construction materials. "
Engineering technicians earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $76,126. Comparatively, quality control technicians have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $45,814.When it comes to education, engineering technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to quality control technicians. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Quality control technician vs. Process technician
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between quality control technicians and process technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a quality control technician might have more use for skills like "lab equipment," "quality control tests," "test results," and "asphalt." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of process technicians require skills like "patients," "dexterity," "manual dexterity," and "pathogens. "
Process technicians enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $46,555. For comparison, quality control technicians earn the highest salary in the health care industry.The average resume of process technicians showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to quality control technicians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of quality control technician
Updated January 8, 2025
