FAQs

Who is a quality assurance engineer?

A quality assurance engineer analyzes and inspects products to ensure that they meet customer specifications. He/she is also responsible for inventing new methods of testing products. A quality assurance engineer also makes improvements in existing methods of sampling, testing, or inspecting products. The quality assurance department of a company makes sure that it increases productivity by identifying the causes of defective products. A quality assurance engineer has to continuously evaluate the methods used to monitor the quality of products. View and apply from a range of Quality Assurance (QA) jobs present in this section.

What are the certifications required to become a quality assurance engineer?

Getting certified as a quality assurance engineer will definitely give an edge to the candidate’s profile. The American Society of Quality offers a certification in quality assurance engineering. In order to get the certification, the candidate needs to pass an exam and should also possess a prior experience of 8 years in this field. The candidates can get a waiver for the number of experience years required by getting a diploma, associate’s degree, master’s degree, or doctorate. The Certified Associate in Software Quality is a certification offered by QAI Global Institute. A college degree or at least 3 years of experience is necessary to be eligible for this certification and to get you the job of a quality assurance engineer.

What are the technical skill sets and qualifications required to become a quality assurance engineer?

Employers usually look for candidates with a bachelor’s degree in quality engineering or quality control. A candidate can also have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or information systems technology. A master’s degree program which gives knowledge of quality control standards like Total Quality Management (TQM), Statistical Quality Control (SQM), ISO 9000, and Six Sigma will definitely be beneficial in securing a job as a quality assurance engineer.

Programming Languages and Technologies:
A candidate who will be working for an IT company should have a good understanding of different computer operating systems and programming languages.

Experience:
A candidate can start as a quality assurance inspector and go onto become a quality assurance engineer.

What is the scope of a quality assurance engineer?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for inspectors, sorters, testers, weighers, and samplers are expected to increase by 5.5 percent between 2012 and 2022. Since most companies have started using automated inspection equipment’s, the employment of quality control engineers has seen a slower-than-average growth.

What are the career opportunities for quality assurance engineers?

According to CBSalary.com, the national average salary of a quality assurance engineer was estimated to be $80,445 in the year 2010. Professionals in this field can expect employment growth as companies rely on internet and computer technologies to run their businesses. Candidates can be promoted to the post of senior quality assurance testers after gaining experience as a quality assurance engineer. A senior quality assurance tester is responsible for supervising junior team members, project management, and preparing reports on the progress of the team. According to PayScale.com, these professionals get an average annual salary in the range of $71,453 to $97,194.
Quality assurance engineers can also go on to become computer hardware engineers. In order to get employed in this sector, a candidate will need a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering. These courses must be approved by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. According to the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, a computer hardware engineer is expected to earn a median annual salary of $100,920.
Quality assurance engineers can also work as computer programmers. A bachelor’s degree in a related field will be helpful in getting a job in this domain. This also opens the door for working in multinational IT companies. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary of a computer programmer is $74,280.

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