Professional Headhunters for External Auditors

[Auditman64]

Merry Christmas everybody,

I have a peculiar question regarding professional organizations that place "Quality Systems, and/or Special Process Auditors".

In my former life as an NDT tech I used PQNDT up in Waltham, Massachusetts to much success.

They placed me in some good companies, and my thought process is - instead of trying to apply to all of the major primes like Boeing, Grumman, Gulfstream, etc., etc.

It seems (to me) like it would be much easier to just find a professional "headhunter" company that placed auditors.

If anybody in here knows of such a company or organization that they either had a good experience with, or have heard good things about, I would greatly appreciate some direction.

Thanks everybody, and have a safe, happy holiday.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

In the past, I knew a person who used to be a headhunter for CB executives, but not auditors.

Some of the larger CB's have HR resources who advertise job openings for auditors in their websites and other places such as indeed.com.

Keep in mind that, management system auditors with vanilla-type qualifications, such as ISO 9001 lead auditor credentials are in high supply, so, not much demand. On the other hand, good auditors with scheme specific authentications, such as AS91X0, IATF 16949, RC-14000, etc... are much more sought after by CB's, as the pool of qualified auditors is much more limited.

Good luck.

 

[dsanabria]

Merry Christmas everybody,

I have a peculiar question regarding professional organizations that place "Quality Systems, and/or Special Process Auditors".

In my former life as an NDT tech I used PQNDT up in Waltham, Massachusetts to much success.

They placed me in some good companies, and my thought process is - instead of trying to apply to all of the major primes like Boeing, Grumman, Gulfstream, etc., etc.

It seems (to me) like it would be much easier to just find a professional "headhunter" company that placed auditors.

If anybody in here knows of such a company or organization that they either had a good experience with, or have heard good things about, I would greatly appreciate some direction.

Thanks everybody, and have a safe, happy holiday.

Are you looking full time auditor work or just contract work?

Are you certified and have credentials?

and finally - Do you meet the requirements for NADCAP or any specific field?

Let us know so that we could give you additional information on what where and who...

 

[Auditman64]

Here's my background,

I currently work for a large, aerospace manufacturing company in the Northeast, and I've been conducting special process audits such as: NDT, Bonding, Heat Treat, Shot Peen, Plating and many others. I've also conducted Quality System audits that are modeled after AS9100 audits.

I've been working in this capacity fro the last ten years.

I have my AS9100 Lead Auditor cert from SAI Global, but I never passed the AATT exam that would have given me my AEA credentials that would have allowed me to work for a Registrar as a contractor.

Honestly I've given up on that path as I see the AATT exam as a money making scam that "the industry" makes impossible for any "mortal" to pass while they repeatedly charge you.........without telling you the results or score of the exam you took.

My new path is to just take my ten years of Special Process & Quality Systems audit experience (from a major prime) and use that to hopefully find a new gig as an external auditor auditing suppliers.

Hence my initial question: are there any professional headhunters that specialize in finding positions for folks like me that would like to work for companies such as Boeing, Grumman, Gulfstream, Lockheed, etc., etc.?

Hope this clears things up.......

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Honestly I've given up on that path as I see the AATT exam as a money making scam that "the industry" makes impossible for any "mortal" to pass while they repeatedly charge you.........without telling you the results or score of the exam you took.

Years ago, I was in charge of 42 Aerospace Lead Auditors when we had the AATT Transition Process for the AS9100 Rev. C standard. Although there were problems with the exam, in my experience, the auditors who really knew aerospace quality systems and knew third party auditing, and did their homework by paying attention to the course and understood AS9101 passed the exam without much problems.

Were you familiar with AS9101 when you took the test?

 

[Auditman64]

I can literally quote to you verbatim AS9100 Rev C page for page.

I know it like the back of my hand.

I've been doing Supplier Quality System audits for ten years.

When I took the exam with SAI Global (almost two years ago now) I passed the online knowledge portion and I did well in the interview.

The section I failed was the section (I'm told) everybody fails.......the "application portion" where the questions are extremely subjective, most of the question do not come from the material covered in the spec because they are "audit situational" questions, and more than one answer can apply.

I've been told by countless people in the industry that have taken the test (and ultimately passed) that the entire process is mostly BS because there are two instructors grading your exam, and almost all of your grading is derived from "their personal interpretations" of your answers. (not the spec)

To make matters worse (I'm told) that if one instructor gives you a passing grade, but the other instructor grading your exam doesn't like "those same answers" - then he can fail you. I have no way of knowing if this is true but at least a dozen people have all told me the same thing.

My problem with the exam is that you are only given a pass or fail answer only. You are not told where you did poorly or what you got wrong, and there are no percentages given, hence you have no way of knowing where to bone up.

All the while, Plexus is charging you $650.00 a pop each time for each retake, and you only get two. I failed my first retake exam and I have yet to take the second. I'm not quiet sure that I want to subject myself to this farce any longer.

If you fail both retakes you have to sit through the $2,400 dollar class all over again.

I've asked countless people in here and elsewhere what I should do in terms of what else I should study besides the spec, which areas should I concentrate on more, and all I'm ever told by everybody is:

"Just treat each question like it's the end of the world, and make everything a major"

Well..........."politely", that's a bunch of nonsense and it doesn't work. It didn't help me, and I still have no idea what Plexus wants in order to pass their ridiculous exam.

Sorry.......but this entire process has been beyond frustrating for me.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

The frustration is totally understandable. But, keep in mind that I had mentioned AS9101, not AS9100.

The AATT course and exam were meant to indoctrinate and test auditors ALSO on the 9101 requirements. You might know 9100 in depth, but if you lack knowledge on 9101, chances are, you won't pass the test.

I am just pressing on this, exactly because I know people who know 9100 very well but have very little understanding of 9101. To become an authenticated AEA, one must be familiar with 9101.

Cheers.

 

[Auditman64]

Point well taken, and you're correct.

My problem is that I'm just as well versed with AS9101...........

That's why I have the frustration I have.

I walked away from both exams feeling really confident, and was let down each time.

My confidence was severely rocked, and this is why I haven't taken my last retake.

One day I'll get off the fence and make a decision as to whether I want to pursue it or not, but for now I'm just exploring other options.

Thanks again.......