Quality assurance professionals must have some of the most satisfying jobs around. Their days are filled with testing products to breaking point. They get paid to destroy products and then write a review of the many efforts it took. Or at least that is the perception about QA professionals.
Although there are folks who land these types of jobs, they are few and far between, but there are other opportunities that are equally satisfying.
Project management
Part of ensuring that a company delivers a quality product or service happens long before the end product is produced. The whole manufacturing process needs to be overseen and there are not many people as qualified for the position as a Quality Assurance professional.
Add Six Sigma Training from OpEx Learning to their resume and you have an employee who can oversee the production of a product and improve on the processes as well. Not only will they be able to assure that the end product or service is of superior quality, but they will also be able to finetune the production or service process that will ensure that the best possible profit margin is attained.
Quality test leaders
Behind every quality check is someone who has to crunch the numbers and figure out ways to test the durability of a product. Quality test leaders are the brains behind the tests and experiments that need to be done. They are also the ones who need to make sense of the results from these experiments.
Once they have all the data and analyzed their findings, the test leaders need to come up with possible solutions if there was a critical error or a drop in productivity. This is a position for someone with a very analytical mind and who does not care much for carrying out the tests themselves.
Production manager
Wherever there is a production line, there needs to be a QA in the background. Their roles constantly shift between innovation, implementation and maintenance. Many companies that start small and grow quickly fall into the trap of not updating their processes.
What works for small-scale production will necessarily work for mass production. Then there are the traditionalists who hold on to outdated methods of production because they do not know any better or because they are too stubborn. A QA with a bit of experience will be able to sway the powers that be to upgrade and improve their methods.
Customer experience leaders
Not all quality assurance professionals work on the back end of production or service. There are also opportunities for those who want to focus on the customer. These candidates are excellent relational individuals who value customer experience above all else. They understand that the customer is always right.
After all, if the customers are not happy with a product or service, all the back-end processes mean nothing. Their philosophy is that the customer is the one who drives development. Their roles are also not stagnant as customer needs are constantly changing and swayed by trends.
Quality engineer
The difference between a quality engineer and a quality assurance professional is that the former is not so much bothered with testing the quality of a single product but rather in developing systems that will produce multiple products with the same quality. Another version of a quality engineer is a quality assurance strategist.
These are the hybrid roles best suited for people who enjoy working behind the scenes and working with customers. They have the inside scoop of what customers want and also have a working knowledge of the processes involved, making them a formidable asset to a team.