What is a Certified Quality Engineer (CQE)?

A CQE or Certified Quality Engineer is a Professional who has gained peer recognition based on their understanding and application of the Quality Principles outlined by the American Society for Quality, ASQ.

Certified Quality Engineers (CQEs) are professionals who have demonstrated that they are proficient in the knowledge and application of certain Quality Ideas/Principles.

Notice I said professionals here, and I say that because anybody can become a CQE.

Having a pre-existing degree in Engineering is not required to become a Certified Quality Engineer.

CQE’s, regardless of industry, utilize their skills in a few if not all of the ASQ BoK Pillars:

The 5 Steps to Become A Certified Quality Engineer

Step 1: Ensure That You’re Qualified to Take the Exam

You must be eligible to become a Certified Quality Engineer, and there is 1 major requirements:

8 Years of OTJ Experience, with a minimum of 3 years in a “Decision Making Role”.

There is a big caveat here.

ASQ will exchange a 4 year of on-the-job experience for a Bachelors degree.

Step 2: Apply for the Exam & Become a CQE Member

I’ve written a whole article about the CQE Application Process along with a separate Application FAQ Page.

If you’re interested in learning about the Application process or have any questions I would strongly recommend checking them out.

These pages also include a bit more discussion on the Qualifications needed to sit for the exam.

When you’re ready to apply, or just interested in checking out the process more, here is the ASQ CQE Application.

You’ll have to decide first if you want to become an ASQ member, and I would highly recommend becoming a member.

Why? – It’s cheaper to become a Member!

• Non-Member Certification Cost: $498
• Member Certification Cost (including Membership fee): $398 (A savings of $100)

Step 3: Create a Study Plan

The most important and time consuming process to becoming a Certified Quality Engineer is studying for the exam.

Before you start studying though, I always recommend that you create a study plan.

Your study plan can be customized based on your current level of knowledge of each topic.

To assess your current knowledge, I’ve created a ton of free practice exams (see below!).

I highly recommend that you check this out.

It walks you through the 2015 CQE Body of Knowledge, and how I broke that down into a weekly & daily study plan.

You’ll also find a free copy of that study plan there!

Step 4 – Start Studying!

You check out the CQE body of knowledge here to help you get started.

Step 5 – PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE (With Practice Exam!!!)

There’s that old saying that Practice makes Perfect.

And becoming a CQE requires practicing what you’re learning!

So I created a ton of free practice exams to help you get started.

Get the Free Course!

Getting started on the CQE Journey might be a bit overwhelming.

There’s a lot to do (create a study plan) and there’s a lot to learn!

So I wanted to make it easy by creating a Free Starter Course that covers the top 10 topics on the CQE Exam.

This is a great starter course to teach you the basics of the CQE body of knowledge, while also helping you get started.

This course was intentionally designed to help you create a daily study habit that will lead you to success.