CQE (Certified Quality Engineer) requisite 8 years experience requirement

apestate

Quite Involved in Discussions
Is it really necessary to prove you have precisely 8 years or more experience in one or more areas of the CQE body of knowledge to qualify for the exam?

technical diploma, 1 yr waived
associates, 2 yrs waived
bachelors, 4
masters or phd, 5

so I need to come up with 8 years experience.

how creative could I get with experience in a CQE body of knowledge area?

minimum 3 years in decision-making position is covered.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Long-time ASQ member I may be, but I've learned not to speak on behalf of ASQ on matters of eligibility for certifications. May I suggest you address this question directly to ASQ, Attention: Sally Harthun, Manager of Certification. Ms. Harthun is usually very attentive and sympathetic to problems test takers face.

That said, the point of "experience requirements" in many of the certification exams is simply to assure a minimum level of maturity and experience in "life" since the degrees and formal schooling often have absolutely nothing in common with the skills and knowledge required to pass a test like CQE or CSSBB.
 

Wesley Richardson

Wes R
Trusted Information Resource
atetsade said:
Is it really necessary to prove you have precisely 8 years or more experience in one or more areas of the CQE body of knowledge to qualify for the exam?

technical diploma, 1 yr waived
associates, 2 yrs waived
bachelors, 4
masters or phd, 5

so I need to come up with 8 years experience.

Note that you cannot combine the education waivers. If you have an Associate degree, then it is two years waived. If you also have a technical diploma, then it is still just two years waived. "(Only one of these waivers may be claimed.)"

So how many years of on-the-job experience in one or more of the areas of the Certified Quality Engineer Body of Knowledge do you have?

Wes R.
 
R

ralphsulser

I once knew an ex high school math teacher who was allowed to apply her years teaching to meet the CQE requirement back in the 80's
 

Govind

Super Moderator
Leader
Super Moderator
atetsade said:
Is it really necessary to prove you have precisely 8 years or more experience in one or more areas of the CQE body of knowledge to qualify for the exam?

technical diploma, 1 yr waived
associates, 2 yrs waived
bachelors, 4
masters or phd, 5

so I need to come up with 8 years experience.

how creative could I get with experience in a CQE body of knowledge area?

minimum 3 years in decision-making position is covered.

There are already good replies. To answer your second question, I would take the body of knowledge Major Sections and review my years of experience one by one. If the Major section is at a high level, I would go one step lower at a subsection level to see if met the criteria. If you did not meet, probably you are not eligible to sit for the exam yet. If you are short by fraction of a year or so, you could call ASQ certifications and ask for their suggestion. Basically the entire decision is made by ASQ. I am just providing a practical approach. I did this for my due diligence before appearing every exam.
Regards,
Govind.
 

apestate

Quite Involved in Discussions
Govind

That is a very good practical approach. Thank you, that is what I shall do this weekend.

Wes, after briefly reading the BOK for CQE, I can say that in the past 8 years I have not covered every major section. Certainly not with any depth to my activities. Using statistics at a bar game of dice is not very in depth coverage of that major section, however correct I may have been.

In December of '06 I could easily have body of knowledge coverage in all areas--but I don't know that I'll have 8 years experience coverage. Is that the necessary part? Is it necessary to have 8 years experience in quality management, quality systems, control, risk, improvement, and quality math together? If so, then it seems necessary to have been a top notch quality manager for 8 years before you can get a CQE.

"must have 8 years experience in one or more of the areas of the certified quality engineer body of knowledge. a minimum 3 years of this experience must be in a decision making position."

incidentally, I've been in machine shops and quality management for the past 4 years. in december '06 this will be 5 years. that's five years of decision-making experience in quality management, systems, control, improvement and quality math... with slight coverage in "risk".

I'm wondering if I can fill the rest with 1 yr as a QC at a chicken factory, 1 year as a machine operator at a plastics factory, 1 year as a hand laborer at another plastics factory, etc. I have 8 years of job experience that has been in production or quality control of actual product, as opposed to experience as material handler, electrician, roofer, etc.

At a very general level, does it sound to you that I am qualified to sit for the exam?
 

Wesley Richardson

Wes R
Trusted Information Resource
atetsade said:
After briefly reading the BOK for CQE, I can say that in the past 8 years I have not covered every major section. Certainly not with any depth to my activities. In December of '06 I could easily have body of knowledge coverage in all areas--but I don't know that I'll have 8 years experience coverage. Is that the necessary part? Is it necessary to have 8 years experience in quality management, quality systems, control, risk, improvement, and quality math together?

"must have 8 years experience in one or more of the areas of the certified quality engineer body of knowledge. a minimum 3 years of this experience must be in a decision making position."

At a very general level, does it sound to you that I am qualified to sit for the exam?

As Wes Bucey pointed out, the decision is up to ASQ, as to whether you meet the requirements, based on your certification application. You should consider sending in an application, providing supporting documentation of your education and experience, and see what results. If ASQ should reject your application, then consider taking the CQT exam.

If you read the requirement, 'in one or more of the areas' you will understand that you do not need this amount of experience in every area of the body of knowledge, in order to be accepted to take the exam. However, to have a good chance of passing the exam, you will need a level of understanding in all of the areas of the body of knowledge. Since you do not need a score of 100%, you can miss some portion of the questions, and still pass. Certainly, the more experience with the topics in the body of knowledge, that you have, I would expect the likelihood of passing to increase.

In CQE refresher courses that I have taught, I do not recall any students that had experience in all of the areas of the CQE Body of Knowledge.

Part of the benefit of preparing for an ASQ Certification Exam, is learning about a wide variety of tools and concepts, and refreshing your understanding of the same in areas that you have already used. This expansion of knowledge then provides a resource for you to draw on, depending upon the problem or process that you wish to change.

Wes R.
 
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