Certified
Quality Auditor is a professional who
understands the standards and principles
of auditing and the auditing techniques
of examining, questioning, evaluating and
reporting to determine a quality system's
adequacy and deficiencies. The Certified
Quality Auditor analyzes all elements of
a quality system and judges its degree of
adherence to the criteria of industrial
management and quality evaluation and
control systems.
Education and/or
Experience
You must have
eight years of on-the-job experience in
one or more of the areas of the Certified
Quality Auditor Body of Knowledge. A
minimum of three years of this experience
must be in a decision-making position.
"Decision-making" is defined as
the authority to define, execute, or
control projects/processes and to be
responsible for the outcome. This may or
may not include management or supervisory
positions.
If you were ever
certified by ASQ as a Quality Engineer,
Reliability Engineer, Software Quality
Engineer or Quality Manager, experience
used to qualify for certification in
these fields applies to certification as
a Quality Auditor.
If you have
completed a degree* from a college,
university or technical school with
accreditation accepted by ASQ, part of
the eight-year experience requirement
will be waived as follows (only one of
these waivers may be claimed):
Diploma from a
technical or trade school—one year will
be waived.
Associate degree—two years waived.
Bachelor's degree—four years waived.
Master's or doctorate—five years
waived.
*Degrees/diplomas from educational
institutions outside the United States
must be equivalent to degrees from U.S.
educational institutions.
Minimum
Expectations
Must possess the
knowledge and ability to effectively
conduct different types of audits in a
professional, ethical and objective
manner using and interpreting applicable
standards/requirements, with an awareness
of potential legal and financial
ramifications.
Must be able to
effectively plan, develop, communicate
and execute an audit within a defined
scope, including resource scheduling,
conducting necessary meetings in
performance of the audit and using
appropriate auditing techniques.
Must be able to
verify, document and communicate audit
results, develop an audit report and
evaluate the effectiveness of corrective
action/follow-up.
Must possess
interpersonal skills to resolve conflict,
conduct interviews and make presentations
effectively.
Must be able to
participate in, lead and facilitate
teams. Must understand how quality
principles relate to business processes
and be able to explain the importance of
aligning the audit function to the
organization.
Must be able to
select and use a wide variety of quality
and auditing tools and techniques in
practical applications.
Examination
Each
certification candidate is required to
pass a written examination that consists
of multiple-choice questions that measure
comprehension of the Body of Knowledge.
The Quality Auditor examination is a
one-part, 150-question, five-hour exam
and is offered in English.
Examinations are
conducted twice a year, in June and
December, by local ASQ sections and
international organizations. All
examinations are open-book. Each
participant must bring his or her own
reference materials. Use of reference
materials and calculators is explained in
the seating letter provided to
applicants. |