How relevant are ASQC CQT, CQE, CMI Completion Diplomas in the Current Work Place

A

Al Dyer

How relevant are the ASQC ----- CQT, CQE, CMI completion diplomas in the currant work place?

Do they make any difference?

Al...
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Do you mean certifications from American Society for Quality (ASQ)? We haven't called it ASQC (American Society for Quality Control) for about ten years [added in edit - twenty years, not ten!]. I can't recall the certifications ever being called diplomas.

I don't think many corporations REQUIRE certifications for employees, either as a condition for hiring or for remaining in employment, but a lot of quality managers recognize that an individual with such a certificate has demonstrated a MINIMUM baseline for the BOK (Body of Knowledge) of the field. I don't think a lot of my fellow quality professionals is naive enough to think such a certificate means super competence.

The other, maybe more subtle, earmark of an individual with such a certificate is that it demonstrated a certain intestinal fortitude and interest in one's career to go through the rigor of achieving such a certificate. That alone would be an important factor for a hiring officer in selecting a job candidate.
 
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Randy

Super Moderator
About as relevant as a hitching post in downtown Little Rock from my standpoint....It ain't the paper that makes the professional, it's the performance.
 
C

CertifiedDataJunkie

It ain't the paper that makes the professional, it's the performance.

That's undoubtedly true Randy. However, I'm sure you have some credentials that gave you tickets to the dance. In other words, you were given the chance at some point to "perform" due to a piece of paper.

For some people, that piece of paper is even cash or a birth certificate. But, I digress. ;)

Out of curiosity, what brought this topic up?
 

Miner

Forum Moderator
Leader
Admin
In my experience at several companies, it made very little difference. It was on the boilerplate of desirable qualifications, but was never a show stopper if we liked someone. In addition, I have run across too many that were simply good at taking tests and could not apply what they had learned. I speak also as someone that had decision authority on the hiring of Quality Engineers. I cannot remember a single time where my decision was affected by the certification in the slightest.

ASQ will show statistics that equate certification with higher pay. Well correlation does not imply causation. It may be that people that are harder working may be more likely to pursue certification, but the reverse may not be true.
 
C

CertifiedDataJunkie

ASQ will show statistics that equate certification with higher pay. Well correlation does not imply causation. It may be that people that are harder working may be more likely to pursue certification, but the reverse may not be true.

There certainly is a correlation between this topic and "mod" participation. Of course, to be precise, correlation is a necessary, but not sufficient requirement for causation. I think most people who see the claims made understand that. It's also difficult to understand what and how other interpretations of the data are based upon, however. There certainly are many instances where folks project their background as important on others as well as times when people think, but don't know, what's really involved.
 
A

Al Dyer

That's undoubtedly true Randy. However, I'm sure you have some credentials that gave you tickets to the dance. In other words, you were given the chance at some point to "perform" due to a piece of paper.

For some people, that piece of paper is even cash or a birth certificate. But, I digress. ;)

Out of curiosity, what brought this topic up?


Hi,

I brought it up because my son has been looking into the quality field (he will be competing an accounting degree soon) as a career. I told him my views and wanted to him to see differing views. I might have used the word diploma in another post, but to me it is a piece of paper that indicated I passed a test.

What helped me was the technical knowledge acquired during the studying process and the on the job mentoring from the CQE that suggested the classes to get the "diploma". The technical knowledge helped but the biggest assistance came from the relationships developed during a working career. (Dare I Say Networking?)

Al...
 
K

kgott

I have two diplomas, one in safety and the other in quality. The problem with them is that neither covered the knowlege I needed in the job.

For example, the quality diploma covered a little bit of SPC but it did not cover the material that 99% of is this forum is about. Most of the knowledge I have learned that I need in this and in my previous quality roles has come from hard expereince or from this forum. A little has also come from other websites.

The problem as I see it is that there is nothing about a quality managers job that cannot be learned on this forum and from a few good books so one can still learn the knowledge and the skills to be good at the job without having to get a diploma (or certification). However, having said that, the point Wes made about being able to demonstrate that one has the stickability to see something throught that a piece of paper proves, is something that I have heard said before and is something I have to agree with.
 

Miner

Forum Moderator
Leader
Admin
Al,

You could look at it this way. While the jury is out on whether certification helps, it definitely does not hurt. And, the person pursuing certification will typically learn something from the BoK that they did not previously know. Therefore, it is a very low risk path.
 

Steve Prevette

Deming Disciple
Leader
Super Moderator
Working with the government, the ASQ has been useful. Every so often some government auditor will get on credentials of folks. Since there is no professional engineer for statistics, the CQE card has filled in for that. It's helped, at least from a PR perspective. I got my CQE back when it was $90 and since I had the Ops Research masters degree, it was not very hard to prep for. I'd say it was worth the $90 plus the 3 year recert fees.
 
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