Anxious

Took the CQE exam (Certified Quality Engineer for those who have no idea what a CQE is) on Saturday, but can’t get the results until maybe Saturday. It will probably be Monday though. Hands down, the toughest exam I’ve ever taken. Worse than any Physics or Calc exam for sure. A lot of questions with more than one good answer. I have my fingers crossed though. It seems like everyone else has more faith in me than I have in myself. All I hear is, “I’m sure you passed”. Well, I studied like crazy since December, and despite being mentally exhausted, felt like I did ok. However, I felt, at best, 80% ok, and that’s the minimum passing score!

I read a post on a quality forum (I know, how geeky is that) that described the test as being very engaging. I have to agree. I’m amazed at how much I learned. My whole intent was to be judged against an objective standard because the title “Quality Engineer” gets thrown around a lot, and too often ends up landing on people who aren’t capable of performing, what I think are the cool aspects of quality engineering. They are much the same as I was prior to this experience; flying by the seat of their pants, and trying to learn along the way. I found that to be very stressful. I will still be leaning from now until I retire, but, if I pass, I will know that I have measured up to an objective standard. If I didn’t pass, there’s always the test in December!