Quality control technician

As Greek philosopher Aristotle said, 'Quality is not an act, but a habit.' In this role, you'll champion quality throughout your workplace.

Quality control technicians help establish and manage quality control systems. You'll make sure products meet quality standards and are safe for customers to buy.

You'll need technical knowledge of your industry. Quality control technicians should also have a strong awareness of quality control standards and legislation.

Your tasks might include:

• dealing with feedback and complaints from customers

• referring issues to managers when needed

• assessing suppliers

• checking and updating quality control policies

• training new staff

• writing reports for quality managers

Quality control technicians also have specialised tasks depending on where they work. For example, if you're working in food and drink production, you'll:

• find and remove faults in the production process

• test microbiological, chemical and physical samples

• check labels and make sure methods are in line with legislation

If you work in manufacturing engineering, you might:

• monitor each stage of production

• use statistical analysis to make sure that machined parts are within tolerance limits

• run tests for defects, for example electric vehicle battery-leak detection

Green job  

In this job, you may do work that helps the environment. You could:   

• make sure products using energy are doing so efficiently 

• make production processes more sustainable by reducing waste  

Find out more about green jobs. 

• The Chartered Quality Institute – check out this organisation that supports quality management professionals

• Chartered Management Institute – explore the professional body for people working in management and leadership positions

• British Standards Institution – learn about this company that helps businesses across the United Kingdom apply quality standards