My experience with the 5 day lead auditor course and exam was a nightmare from start to finish, not only me but eight out of ten of those who attended the course were very disatisfied with the course content, presentation and personal outcome of the course and testing. Eight of the ten people who attended including me all failed the testing and this caused me and others to question the credibility of the IRCA course presentation. I should say that there was no sour grapes at the failiure of the eight yet, We all believe with conviction that the statistics of eight out of ten fails was a cause for concern to all, as most of those who attended were all seasoned quality auditors. The registrar who is Toronto based gave a fair hearing to any complaints yet the concerns were brushed aside as being of no importance to the general course content and outcome. It was made clear to all who attended the course that, this course was the only way to gain credibility as a quality system auditor, I thought this comment was pretentious to say the least.
The registrar held the opinion that the ASQ, CQA designation was of little or no use as a form of certification and considered all auditors who rely on the ASQ for this designation to be lacking the appropriate certification and credibility to be recognised as an auditor of quality systems in general. Having had time to think of the experience and the negetive outcome, I believe and concur with all who were disatisfied with this course that the course presentation and content had caused our understanding of the IRCA course to be blurred and distorted. I noticed something significant regarding the presentation of the IRCA course that, most of the terminology used was very British and that, the north american equivelants were not provided within the course manual, I originaly hail from the UK and I even had some problems with the termonology presented and, being here in Canada for some years have become accustomed to the north american terminology. I have come to resent the fact that the registrars have in a sense a monopoly on the certification of quality system auditors, I recently viewed the course delegate manual that was provided and, I have come to the conclusion that the IRCA course does not and can't possibly give an auditor the tools and credibility to be an effective and proficient quality system auditor, I continue to be in favour of the ASQ body of knowledge as the foundation to proficient and effective execution of auditing skills. I would appreciate any comments that would be helpful regarding deciding what the best option would be to ana auditor who is seeking a credible and recognized form of certification.