Print
eMail
Inspectors and testers ensure that your food will not make you sick, that your car will run properly and that your pants will not split the first time you wear them. They monitor quality standards for virtually all manufactured products:
- foods
- textiles
- clothing
- glassware
- motor vehicles
- electronic components
- computers
- structural steel
Specific job duties also vary across the wide range of industries in which these workers are found. For example, some materials inspectors may check products by sight, sound, feel, smell, or even taste. Others might look for problems like cuts, scratches, bubbles, missing pieces or crooked seams.
How long will it take?
As companies implement more automated inspection techniques, workers have to learn to operate and program more sophisticated equipment and learn software applications. That means some post-secondary education is necessary, typically through a technial program at a community college like AC.
How much can you earn?
Beginning salaries are in the $22,000 - $29,000 range. With experience, expect to earn up to $55,000.
Where can you work?
The majority of inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers and weighers work in the manufacturing sector (motor vehicle, plastics, electronics and aerospace). Numbers are also growing in the medical and biotechnology fields.
