Write technical reports. Some employers offer courses to develop management skills. Specialist training can be obtained through both in-house and external courses. Prospects tend to be what you make of them. The salary data was collected in Jun 99 Salaries vary by location, the size of the organisation and the nature of its business.
Some companies now make appointments at director level.
Work is likely to be partly in a laboratory supervising staff, partly on site in production and design areas. It can be physically demanding. An emphasis on routine testing is likely in early years. Jobs are available in most areas Quality assurance is now practised by service as well as manufacturing and process industries, and is increasingly widespread. A career break might be difficult due to developments in the use of different techniques.