The American Society for Quality or ASQ is an international organization that offers certifications in management, foundational quality, engineering, Six Sigma, auditing, and more. The specialists who decide to earn the ASQ designations want to improve their competency in these areas and increase their potential for earning a higher annual payment.

ASQ Certification Program

In all, the ASQ certification track includes varied validations in the following areas:

• The category that focuses on Management includes the Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence and Certified Supplier Quality Professional certifications;
• The qualifications focusing on Foundational Quality include the Certified Quality Improvement Associate and Certified Quality Process Analyst certificates;
• The category dedicated to the Inspector/Technician roles is formed of the Certified Calibration Technician, Certified Quality Inspector, and Certified Quality Technician designations;
• The candidates who want to improve their competency of Engineering can access the Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Reliability Engineer, and Certified Software Quality Engineer certifications;
• The section dedicated to Six Sigma includes the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified Six Sigma Green Belt, Certified Six Sigma Yellow Belt, and Certified Master Black Belt qualifications;
• The category focusing on Auditing includes the Certified Food Safety and Quality Auditor, Certified Medical Device Auditor, Certified Pharmaceutical GMP Professional, and Certified Quality Auditor certifications.

Now when you’ve familiarized yourself with the overview of the ASQ certificates, let us get into some of them in more detail.

Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence CMQ/OE

The CMQ/OE certification is suitable for any individual who wants to become a champion in leading initiatives for different types of processes. What is more, these specialists can work both in small and international organizations and use their skills to improve processes in industrial or service domains. Plus, the certified candidate is capable of leading teams to obtain the expected results, monitor customer relations, support deployment as well as strategic planning actions, and improve the organization’s results by developing measurement systems. The target audience for such a designation must demonstrate that they worked in a position as a manager of quality/organizational excellence for 10 years and have 5 years of expertise in a role as a decision-maker. In particular, this means that they have the necessary skills to execute, control, and define projects and take responsibility for the obtained outcome. Still, the necessary education will help in waiving some required years of experience. Thus, you can waive one year in case you have a diploma from a trade school. Two years will be waived with the help of an associate degree. Besides, you can compensate for four years of related work experience with a Bachelor’s degree, and five years with a Master’s or doctorate diploma. As for the exam details, the registration fee to enroll in the CMQ/OE certification exam is $468 for the ASQ members. To add more, you should pay $568 if you are a non-member of this organization and $368 if you want to retake the test. In case you choose to take the actual evaluation on the computer, you will need to answer 180 multiple-choice inquiries out of which only 165 are scored. Besides, the exam duration, in this case, is 4 hours and 18 minutes. Lastly, if you opt for the paper and pencil exam version, then you will need to answer 165 multiple-choice questions, and the duration for this test will be 4 hours.

Topics Tested for CMQ/OE

You can get the passing score in the official CMQ/OE certification test from the first try if you demonstrate good knowledge of the following topics:

• Understand the roles and responsibilities that a manager should have in an organization and be prepared for leadership challenges and implement change management techniques;
• Becoming an expert in strategic plan deployment and development focusing on strategic planning models as well as business environment analysis;
• Developing communication & project management abilities and skills in different areas such as human resources, financial management, or risk management;
• Gaining knowledge of the quality management tools dedicated to problem-solving, process management, and metrics alongside assessment that can be implemented in an organization.

Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Certification

The CQE qualification focuses on the individuals who want to consolidate their competency in using service & product quality control including the related evaluation tools. In particular, the target audience is interested in learning how to operate and develop quality control systems, correct any improper practices, and become familiar with concepts for quality costs as well as techniques. The candidates who want to take the CQE certification exam for this validation should have 8 years of relevant experience in an area that focuses on quality engineering. However, if candidates cannot meet this requirement, they can waive some of these years through education. For example, a Bachelor's degree is equivalent to four years of experience while a Master’s degree can compensate for 5 years of experience. To add more, another eligibility option for the CQE test would be to have a minimum of 3 years in a decision-making role. When it comes to the procedure for the actual exam, the applicants who want to get CQE certified should pay a registration fee of $398 for the main evaluation. Still, this amount applies if they are ASQ members. In case they are non-members, then the price becomes $498. In addition, the computer-based test includes 175 multiple-choice questions, however, only 160 of them are scored, and the allotted time for this type of exam is 5 hours and 18 minutes. On the other hand, the candidates who want to take the final test in a testing center should get ready to answer 160 multiple-choice scored inquiries in 5 hours.

Topics Tested for CQE Designation

The candidates who want to pass the real CQE evaluation should take a look at its Body of Knowledge and develop advanced knowledge of the following topics:

• Quality foundations and philosophies as well as understanding the features that an effective Quality Management System should have;
• Gaining knowledge of the elements, documentation, and standards that a Quality System should possess;
• Becoming experts in managing quality processes, products, and service design tools;
• Keeping control of quality processes and products;
• Identifying tools & techniques for continuous improvement;
• Summarizing data and learning the concepts used in quantitative methods alongside tools.

Career Prospects

Any applicant who decides to earn ASQ certifications will become a competitive candidate for international companies. Plus, the above-mentioned validations recommend successful applicants for the following roles:

• Quality Manager;
• Quality Engineer;
• Quality Auditor.

Based on the information available on Payscale.com, a Quality Manager can earn an annual amount of $82k. Also, if you want to build your career as a Quality Engineer, then you can get a salary of approximately $69k per year. Finally, the same provider for salaries claims that a Quality Auditor can ask for almost $60k as a yearly compensation.

Certification Path

Whether to speak about the ASQ Management certification path, you’d better commence it with the Certified Supplier Quality Professional certificate and only then opt for the Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. As for the Engineering track, apart from the Certified Quality Engineer, you can also procure the Certified Reliability Engineer as well as Certified Software Quality Engineer designations.