"Believe it or not, I first had the idea that I might be good at this back when my high school football team volunteered to pack food donation boxes. I kept repacking boxes so everything fit well and checking each one to make sure it had the correct assortment of items for each family.

Our coach joked that I was “Mr. Quality Control.” He praised my attention to detail. A few months before graduation, I saw an ad for a job at a bottling plant in quality control and I was so happy to get it. My coach was right. I love putting my natural talent to work making sure that our products don’t have defects or deviations that are outside of what’s in our specification’s standard. The company gives us on-the-job training, so we know exactly what to do. With so many manufacturing plants in South Carolina, there are a lot of opportunities for people interested in this field."

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Job Description

SOC Code: 51-9061

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products or nonagricultural raw materials for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment.*

*Source: This information is based on O*NET™ data. O*NET is a trademark registered to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.

Top Job Skills:

• Customer service
• Root cause analysis
• Record keeping
• Regulatory compliance
• Stand for extended periods of time

General Work Activities:

• Interacting With Others
  • Advise others on ways to improve processes or products
• Information Input
  • Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information
  • Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications
  • Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning
  • Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements
  • Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products
  • Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed
• Work Output
  • Record operational or production data
  • Clean production equipment

Source: SC Works Online Services (SCWOS)

*All data is factual, but names, images, and quotations have been adapted to protect the identity of employees and businesses.

Job Statistics

Examples of Workforce Areas with Job Openings

 

• Midlands
• Trident
• Upstate
• Greenville
• Worklink
• Catawba

Source: SC Works Online Services. Ask an SC Works representative for more information about postings in your area

Examples of Employers with Job Openings

 

• Food Lion
• Schneider Electric
• TRIGO Group
• American Business Solutions, Inc.
• Vertiv Group Corporation

Source: SC Works Online Services. Ask an SC Works representative for more information about postings in your area

Related Occupations

 

• Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
• Industrial Machinery Mechanics
• Calibration Technologists and Technicians
• Machine Feeders and Offbearers

NOTE: All data based on state averages. Information may vary depending on region, experience, and specific employment situation. Last Updated: 2024

Learn More With SCWOS

SC Works Online Services (SCWOS) is the state’s largest job database and provides all of South Carolina's job postings from all major sites, including Monster and Career Builder, in one resource. SCWOS has thousands of positions listed by employers all over the state. To access SCWOS, visit jobs.scworks.org.

Find in-depth breakdowns of occupational statistics such as necessary job certifications, job skills and abilities, current job openings, overview of general work activities, and more by visiting O*NET.org.