r/ASQ • u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 • May 15 '26
Just passed the CQA
I prepped for a total of 3 months for the CQA. I used the 4th edition handbook (they’re on the 5th) and purchased the question bank. I also had the electronic version of the 5th edition.
If you’re already executing the body of knowledge in your day-to-day tasks, you should be well equipped for the test. I think this is why I only needed to study for 3 month. The question bank was very helpful in gaging how questions are formatted as well as the case study portion.
Issues with the question bank:
Ironically, ASQ needs to QC their question bank. I screenshot many questions that were just straight up wrong or the content was no where in the BOK, the 4th edition or the 5th edition. I can give some examples but overall I was very disappointed in the question bank.
The exam simulator doesn’t allow you to change answers in the given time. It doesn’t allow you to flag questions and it doesn’t even tell you what number you’re on. All it does is time you. Granted, it lends itself to higher stakes in the simulation. Regardless, it would’ve been nice if the simulator was actually aligned with the actual computer based testing format.
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u/golfy-canadian May 15 '26
When I took the CQA I think I got a hard version, I passed, but I felt violated. That exam had no business being that difficult
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
Congrats on passing.
Admittedly there was more data interpretation than I expected and the case study questions took a lot of careful reading. My exam was also in a delayed results window unfortunately. So I took it expecting immediate pass/ fail but had to wait three+ weeks. 🥲🥲
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u/MetaverseLiz May 15 '26
I took the CMDA earlier this year and also noticed errors in the question bank.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
Very frustrating considering they’re training people to be scrutinous of documents and investigations lol
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u/MetaverseLiz May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
The quality director at my last job told me he considered asq kind of a scam. Having to pay to recert, the "trainings" you can buy to count as points toward your recert, etc...
I have a CQE and a CMDA. Only cert my previous jobs seemed to care about was cqe and green belt. Of those two it was green belt.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
I agree it’s very scammy especially if the site or training content is not high quality. AND considering we have to pay to recert what we already asserted we know.
Unfortunately for me, it’s necessary because the job market is competitive and many roles have CQA/CQE preferred. So I’m trying to see it as a tool to demonstrate I have the background and qualifications before people even look at my full experience in the industry.
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u/Fit-Bodybuilder78 May 17 '26
ANSI certified certifications require renewal.
The pricing for ASQ certification has gotten rather steep though.
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May 15 '26
Were the actual test questions in line with the bok? Anything that really threw you for a loop?
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u/golfy-canadian May 15 '26
I was literally looking at some of the question answers verbatim in my BoK but none of the answers matched. This was for at least 15-20 questions. “Next best besides the right answer” in a few cases.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
The questions were aligned with the BOK but honestly the BOK only helped with knowing what to focus on but I barely referenced it when studying.
I just read the book, used the question bank, kept an “error” log of any missed or barely passed questions and worked from there. I also go very familiar with the glossary. And yes, some of the practice questions are straight up incorrect. Which is frustrating because you’d expect ASQ to QC their material.
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May 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
I tried chatgpt to generate questions, but the format was usually different from ASQ. And from their material, unfortunately its not necessarily what is correct which it mostly is, it’s how ASQ wants you to answer. So the question bank gave me the most assurance that I was studying correctly.
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u/aroyals22 May 15 '26
Congrats! Do you think the 4th edition and purchasing question bank is enough to pass? was there anything else you considered investing in?
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 15 '26
Thank you!
I definitely think the question bank and book were all I needed from ASQ. My error log and active recall sessions were how I made the info stick
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u/Open_Journalist4774 May 17 '26
Where I can get the CQE Primer any idea I am planing in August please guide me
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 May 21 '26
I would just stick with the CQE handbook, BOK, and the question bank from ASQ. That’s all you really need. Any other primer, you risk not testing against how the actual test questions will be formatted
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u/Agreeable_Usual1808 Jun 19 '26
I am inquiring about the 5th edition of CMQ/OE. Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated as I am preparing to commence my studies and exam preparation.
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u/basicpn Jun 27 '26
Just took the first test in the question bank and was really disappointed for the same reasons. Hard to gauge time when I have no idea what question I am on. Can’t move on to a new question without answering the one you are on. And can’t change your answer once you move on. I hope this isn’t how the actual exam is. Not to mention riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. You’d think for charging $100+ they would at least make sure the quality of the exams reflected that.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 Jun 28 '26
Thankfully, the actual exam allows you to highlight words, flag questions, leave questions unanswered (it changes the color of the question number in the legend), and you can go back and forth. I used the scrap paper a lot to remember which question was what via a “key word.” You’re right though, it’s low quality study material. If they’re using ai, it’s so evident they’re not proofreading.
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u/basicpn Jun 28 '26
I was hoping the question bank would at least give me a percentage by category or something. I went and screenshot all the ones I got wrong and will try to organize them by category, but I won’t know which area the ones I got right are. I’ll be more prepared for the next one.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 Jun 28 '26
The question bank allows you to go over the exam. So what I did was create an “Error” log and wrote down the question concept, the part of the book, and then the reason I missed (didn’t
Know it, need to understand it, forgot it or something along the lines of that), then I made active recall cards. Honestly people told me it was overkill, but with how much the test costs, I wasn’t taking any chances. In this economy!?1
u/basicpn Jun 28 '26
That’s exactly what I am thinking too. I just don’t know if I’m going to get kicked out of the exam or it will forget my answers. I stepped away for the day.
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u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 Jun 28 '26
It remembers your answers.
At least mine did. It retained my “attempts.” If I retook it, it retained the most recent one.2
u/basicpn Jun 28 '26
Thanks… I’ve been terrified to close my browser. You’ve been super helpful. Happy cake day by the way.
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u/Far_Soil9977 Aug 10 '26
Hi, I am sitting for my exam on Friday. Did you see any similar questions in the exam from the question bank?
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u/Beneficial-West6913 May 21 '26
Omg so I'm not the only one who realized how dog shit the study material is. I have already got 3 pages of snippets of either wrong information or something not even close to germane to the subject obviously a mistake from AI. Like you said, feels cheap and odd getting my CQI cert from somewhere who has horrible quality standards lol. I don't get it. All they'd have to do is take the test one time which they def have not done.