If your equipment starts producing defective products, who do you call? Quality control systems managers! In fact, call them before you notice something is wrong; quality control is a necessary and ongoing process. Quality control systems managers generally work in laboratories and factories, but may also find roles in healthcare. They collect and analyze samples from their production lines and services every day to make sure everything is going as planned. Whether your product is a Frisbee, a car, a food item, or a healthcare service, as a quality control manager, it’s your job to meet standards, comply with regulations, and continuously improve quality. If a problem occurs, these managers need to troubleshoot the process to find a solution and communicate with all of the departments, vendors, and contractors who might be affected by it. On the people side, they supervise employees, and personally advise customers on technical issues. Quality control systems managers often have a four-year degree related to their industry. They must be well versed in quality systems, statistics, and risk analysis. But for these professionals, their work experience is a more important credential. While they usually work typical business hours, overtime might be necessary when big production deadlines approach.
What they do:
Plan, direct, or coordinate quality assurance programs. Formulate quality control policies and control quality of laboratory and production efforts.
On the job, you would:
Stop production if serious product defects are present.
Review and update standard operating procedures or quality assurance manuals.
Monitor performance of quality control systems to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
manufacture and distribution of products
Arts and Humanities
English language
Education and Training
teaching and course design
Math and Science
chemistry
Basic Skills
reading work related information
keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
People and Technology Systems
thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Verbal
communicate by speaking
communicate by writing
Ideas and Logic
notice when problems happen
make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
Visual Understanding
see hidden patterns
quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things
Math
add, subtract, multiply, or divide
People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Initiative
Leadership
Cooperation
Analytical Thinking
You might use software like this on the job:
Data base user interface and query software
Microsoft SQL Server
Structured query language SQL
Desktop communications software
Eko
Analytical or scientific software
Minitab
Thermo Fisher Scientific Laboratory Information Management Systems LIMS
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