Continuing Education for Quality Professional (Online)

[MikeLQSR]

Hi All,

Frequent visitor but this is my first post. So glad I found this site! I just found out I passed the ASQ CQE exam yesterday and with that, I want to now continue on my quality education. My list of certifications thus far are as follows:

1) ASQ CQE
2) CSSGB
3) RABQSA ISO 13485 Auditor

My immediate goal is Global Quality Assurance manager / Director (3-5 years). At this point in my career does anyone have any suggestions to further on my education with new certifications?

I am currently looking into CMQ/OE however I do not think I have enough "professional" experience (requests 10 years). I was also looking into online certifications, but I am having a tough time finding anything which is not redundant to the certifications I currently hold...

So again - does anyone have any suggestions with online courses / certifications for the Quality Assurance professional? Also I want to start being actively involved in the Quality community (conference / meetings / Training / etc) - Where is a good place to start with this?

Thanks so much all - Greatly appreciate your help in advance!

Cheers!
Mike

 

[Marcelo]

This is a little off, but as you mentioned ISO 13485....you may think about a medical device regulatory affairs certification such as the RAPS RAC. Quality is part of the regulations (and the RAPS certification is not only for medical device but for drugs, cosmetics, etc. too, so you would have a lot to study), but in the medical device field it?s usual to have QA and RA functions merged (at least at the high levels).

 

[MikeLQSR]

Marcelo,

Thank you so much for your insight. The RAPS RAC is really very pertinent to my current role and I am part of my companies Global QARA group (as you mentioned they usually go hand in hand in the med. dev. field). I will certainly look into this as I think it could potentially be quite beneficial!

Thank You!!
Mike

 

[kgott]

Hi All,

Frequent visitor but this is my first post. So glad I found this site! I just found out I passed the ASQ CQE exam yesterday and with that, I want to now continue on my quality education. My list of certifications thus far are as follows:

1) ASQ CQE
2) CSSGB
3) RABQSA ISO 13485 Auditor

My immediate goal is Global Quality Assurance manager / Director (3-5 years). At this point in my career does anyone have any suggestions to further on my education with new certifications?

I am currently looking into CMQ/OE however I do not think I have enough "professional" experience (requests 10 years). I was also looking into online certifications, but I am having a tough time finding anything which is not redundant to the certifications I currently hold...

So again - does anyone have any suggestions with online courses / certifications for the Quality Assurance professional? Also I want to start being actively involved in the Quality community (conference / meetings / Training / etc) - Where is a good place to start with this?

Thanks so much all - Greatly appreciate your help in advance!

Cheers!
Mike

Sorry about not being able to recommend courses that result in bits of paper which I can understand you wanting but if you want to learn the knowledge about quality assurance, quality management and application of quality standards then you are already at the best place.

 

[sagai]

I would check the golf club that is preferred by the CEO, and start with some lessons of that kind.

 

[maaquilino]

Certificates are all well and good, but there’s nothing that beats experience, imo. I have the certificates, but I have learned so much more by familiarizing myself with the standards and by actually doing the job (and I continue to learn new things on the Cove!). I’ve worked in many companies where the Quality Manager didn’t know a thing about Quality, even those that had taken a course or two on it; worse, most didn’t care. These companies seemed to put managers in place in many various departments who had no experience in what the department did and most didn’t care about what standards/policies/procedures we were required to follow – they just wanted product out the door and the bottom line to grow. That resulted in products going out the door that weren’t ready to, a lot of NCs when the FDA and other NBs came around to audit, and some recalls of product. But, by that time, the manager who had made those bad decisions had moved on so they didn’t get any of the fallout.

If you want to be a Quality Assurance Manager, the best thing you can do is work in that area and gain experience; be familiar with the regulations, especially those from the USA, Europe, China, etc.; and read the Cove. Everyone can learn a lot on here from other’s experiences, and this is the only forum I’ve found on the Internet that has this many people, from all over the world, with tons of great experience and the willingness to share their expertise. Best of luck to you!

 

[RoxaneB]

I'd also consider broadening your education to beyond pure quality...sites such as Edx and Open2Study offer free, online MOOCs (massive open online courses) and some of them are verified (meaning there is proof that you are the one earning the certificate). You can find courses on a wide range of topics - from statistics to teaching adults to social health issues to globalization to computer science and so on.