Certification is considered a mark of quality excellence in many industries. It helps you advance your career, and boosts your organization’s bottom line through your mastery of quality skills. Becoming certified as a Quality Auditor confirms your commitment to quality and the positive impact it will have on your organization.

YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO

The Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) is a professional who understands the standards and principles of auditing and the auditing techniques of examining, questioning, evaluating, and reporting to determine a quality system’s adequacy and deficiencies. The Certified Quality Auditor analyzes all elements of a quality system and judges its degree of adherence to the criteria of industrial management and quality evaluation and control systems.

IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION

Education or Experience

You must have eight years of on-the job experience in one or more of the areas of the Certified Quality Auditor Body of Knowledge. A minimum of three years of this experience must be in a decision-making position. “Decision-making” is defined as the authority to define, execute, or control projects/processes and to be responsible for the outcome. This may or may not include management or supervisory positions.

If you were ever certified by ASQ as a Quality Engineer, Reliability Engineer, Software Quality Engineer, Supplier Quality Professional, or Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, experience used to qualify for certification in these fields applies to certification as a Quality Auditor.

Exam

Computer Delivered – The CQA examination is a one-part, 165-multiple-choice-question, five-and-a-half-hour exam and is offered in English only. One hundred and fifty questions are scored and 15 are unscored.

The exam consists of Part 1 and Part 2. Exam schedule – twice a year – November and May. You are eligible for Part 2 only after Part 1 successfully completed.

Examinations will continue to present a number of case studies. Each case study will include a brief scenario outlining critical details about an audit situation. In addition, each case study will be supported by related audit documents. The documents will be contained in a separate booklet “Confidential Audit Documents – CQA Case Studies” that will be part of the test materials distributed at the examination. Approximately 15-20 percent (25-30 questions) of the test will be devoted to these case studies. Although the questions related to these cases will use the same four-choice answer format as the rest of the test, the use of scenario details and sample documents will allow the candidates to apply their critical thinking skills in evaluating realistic situations and accompanying documents, memos, etc.

COURSE OUTLINE

• Types of Quality Audits
• Purpose and Scope of Audits
• Criteria to Audit Against
• Roles and Responsibilities of Audit Participants
• Professional Conduct and Consequences for Auditors

Module 2: Audit Process

• Audit Preparation and Planning
• Audit Performance
• Audit Reporting
• Audit Follow-Up and Closure

Module 3: Auditor Competencies

• Auditor Characteristics
• On-Site Audit Resource Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Communication and Presentation Techniques
• Interviewing Techniques
• Team Dynamics

Module 4: Audit Program Management and Business Applications

• Audit Program Management
• Business and Financial Impact

Module 5: Quality Tools and Techniques

• Basic Quality and Problem-solving Tools
• Process Improvement Techniques
• Basic Statistics
• Process Variation
• Sampling Methods
• Change Control and Configuration Management
• Verification and Validation
• Risk Management Tools