Advancing your engineering career in the food and beverage industry won’t be as tough as getting your degree. We know it’s one of the toughest education qualifications to acquire in any field, so breathe easy when we say that the hardest part is behind you.

However, advancement does require effort, professional development, and improving your education. In fact, the best way to push the envelope in your food engineering career is to advance your education – otherwise, you’ll lag behind. 

Here are six certifications for advancing your engineering career in the food & beverage industry. Discover which one is right for you!

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Certifications To Advance Your Food & Beverage Engineering Career:

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Lean Six Sigma

The Lean Six Sigma course teaches you to solve problems and improve processes by increasing efficiency. Implementing the skills and knowledge learned in the course will help your food manufacturing facility fill its coffers, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.

There are three levels to the training that prepare you for a management role in engineering: Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

At the Six Sigma Global Institute, you can take the course from the comfort of your couch. The Institute is based in the US but offers the certification in Canada as well. 

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Project Management Professional (PMP)

As an engineer, you need the knowledge and skills to build machines and systems, maintain them, and solve equipment problems in a food manufacturing plant. But to manage whole projects, you must show project management expertise, which you can gain by earning the PMP certification.

You need over two years of work experience to get the credential. The course teaches:

• Project initiation
• Project planning
• Project monitoring and control
• Project completion
• Professional and social responsibility

Register for the exam online and get course materials at the Project Management Institute, which is located in the US but offers applicable skills to engineers in Canada too. For good measure, e-Learning platforms like Udemy have short courses that can help you prepare for the exam.

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Certified Quality Engineer (CQE)

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) offers CQE certification. Since it’s paramount to uphold high-quality standards in the food and beverage manufacturing industry, the credential is ideal for you as a food processing engineer  – and while this is a US certification, it still demonstrates your skills in the Canadian market.

The ASQ provides course materials upon exam registration and will give you 12 months to sit the exam. The examination fee is 664 CAD.

Here’s what you stand to learn:

• Leadership and management
• Quality systems
• Product and process design
• Continuous improvement
• Risk management
• Product and process control
• Quantitative methods and tools

There is a myriad of exam prep courses online from platforms like Test Prep Training and Udemy. 

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Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE)

It’s essential to improve the reliability and durability of food and beverage products and systems in your role as a food engineer. This is what the CRE course teaches alongside how to maintain the quality of safety standards.

Eight years of engineering experience and three years (out of the eight) experience in a decision-making role are what you need to qualify for the engineering certification.

Register for the exam online at the American Society for Quality (ASQ), which is based in the US but allows the application of the acquired skills in Canada. You’ll be granted study materials and practice test questions, preparing you for an online test.

And the exam fee isn’t prohibitive; it’s only 664 CAD.

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Certified Planning Engineer (CPE)

If you plan on advancing your engineering career on the consulting side, this is your chance. The CPE designation seemingly shows that you have deep knowledge in project planning and strategic planning, which are vital to food and beverage manufacturing.

The program prepares you to provide management counsel to your employer or other food manufacturing institutions. You’ll be able to build models that predict the resources and activities required for timely project completion.

Get certified by the Association of Planning Engineers. The organization is based in London but also offers certification to engineers in Canada, among other countries.

Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE)

A Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE) certification qualifies you for leadership positions at your workplace. But to earn it, a minimum of eight years of combined education and work experience is a prerequisite.

The course teaches advanced and applied manufacturing knowledge. To sit the CMfgE exam, you’ll be required to pay 368 CAD if you’re an SME member professional and 695 CAD if you’re a non-member professional. SME is an international body with offices in the US and Canada. 

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Want to advance your food engineering career?

QTalent is a one-of-its-kind job search platform for the food and beverage manufacturing industry that allows you to create a unique profile that’s more comprehensive than your regular resume, giving potential employers a fuller picture of you.

Our platform’s geolocation feature shows you the company's location and how long it would take you to get to and from work.

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Even more alluring are the alert features – one that allows you to alert HR managers that you’re interested in future roles and another that sends you personalized job alerts.

If you’re tired of having to customize your resume for every job you apply to, get a customized profile and make QTalent your new home.