Quality engineer to quality engineering technician
A quality engineer already meets 60% of what the quality engineering technician role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
42.2/ 100
1 How much of what a quality engineering technician is expected to do is already part of a quality engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the quality engineering technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A quality engineering technician role treats 13 of its required skills as things a quality engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ensure compliance with company regulations
- ensure compliance with legal requirements
- inspect quality of products
- oversee quality control
- quality assurance methodologies
- quality assurance procedures
What stands in the way is 4 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 19 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A quality engineering technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a quality engineer background worth leading with.
- already held test procedures engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held non-destructive testing engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held support implementation of quality management systems communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held ensure compliance with company regulations assisting and caring
- already held communicate test results to other departments communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held set quality assurance objectives management skills
All 19 carried skills, including the 13 the quality engineering technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 21 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn conduct performance tests required
- still to learn perform test run required
- still to learn inspect material required
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held develop material testing procedures optional
- optional, not held manage chemical testing procedures optional
- optional, not held manage manufacturing documentation optional
- optional, not held perform physical stress tests on models optional
- optional, not held perform product testing optional
- optional, not held read standard blueprints optional
- still to learn execute software tests required
- optional, not held automation technology optional
- optional, not held electricity optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held mechanics optional
- optional, not held apply health and safety standards optional
- optional, not held ensure compliance with environmental legislation optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a quality engineering technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 execute software tests practise this
- 02 conduct performance tests practise this
- 03 inspect material practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 19 skills that carry over
- already held ensure compliance with company regulations skill
- already held ensure compliance with legal requirements skill
- already held inspect quality of products skill
- already held oversee quality control skill
- already held quality assurance methodologies knowledge
- already held quality assurance procedures knowledge
- already held quality standards knowledge
- already held record test data skill
- already held report test findings skill
- already held set quality assurance objectives skill
- already held test procedures knowledge
- already held undertake inspections skill
- already held write inspection reports skill
- already held analyse test data skill
- already held communicate test results to other departments skill
- already held maintain test equipment skill
- already held non-destructive testing knowledge
- already held support implementation of quality management systems skill
- already held train employees skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held database quality standards optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held perform laboratory tests optional
17 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held database quality standards optional
- optional, not held apply health and safety standards optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held automation technology optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
- optional, not held develop material testing procedures optional
- optional, not held electricity optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held ensure compliance with environmental legislation optional
- optional, not held manage chemical testing procedures optional
- optional, not held manage manufacturing documentation optional
- optional, not held mechanics optional
- optional, not held perform laboratory tests optional
- optional, not held perform physical stress tests on models optional
- optional, not held perform product testing optional
- optional, not held read standard blueprints optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
18 held skills the quality engineering technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role audit techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role check quality of products on the production line skill
- not needed by the target role check quality of raw materials skill
- not needed by the target role communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role define manufacturing quality criteria skill
- not needed by the target role define quality standards skill
- not needed by the target role identify process improvements skill
- not needed by the target role industrial engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role lead inspections skill
- not needed by the target role lean manufacturing knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
- not needed by the target role manufacturing processes knowledge
- not needed by the target role materials engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform pre-assembly quality checks skill
- not needed by the target role perform project management skill
- not needed by the target role perform risk analysis skill
- not needed by the target role recommend product improvements skill
- not needed by the target role use measurement instruments skill
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held database quality standards optional
- optional, not held automation technology optional
- optional, not held electricity optional
- optional, not held electronics optional
- optional, not held mechanics optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
Common questions about this move
Can a quality engineer become a quality engineering technician?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A quality engineer already covers 60% of what a quality engineering technician is expected to do: 19 skills carry over, 13 of which the quality engineering technician role treats as required.
What skills does a quality engineer need to become a quality engineering technician?
4 required skills are missing, plus 17 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by constructing. The single most important is execute software tests.
How hard is the move from quality engineer to quality engineering technician?
Its learning distance is 42.2 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.