Stage 1 & 2 Advice

Welcome! In the dim and distant past, I worked for LRQA. Do I qualify?

Do you have (or have access to) the IATF "Rules"? This will help enormously.

Stage 1 is a "readiness review", more than a document review. You must have 12 months data on the Core (product related) processes, not "everything".

The performance criteria for an IATF auditor is much higher than "vanilla" ISO 9001 - the oversight by the IAOB is more diligent. They know that suppliers have been in trouble with product quality and delivery, yet auditors find nothing, so they are "squeezing" the CBs to make their auditors "perform". Sadly, this frequently results in findings of dubious value/accuracy. (my observations)

The main thrust of competency (not "training", per se) is for those who are "touching product". So, Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing etc. Finance? If a CB auditor goes there, unless you wrote Finance into your QMS, they have no reason to audit them. BTW a training certificate isn't a demonstration of competency, except in a few, unique, situations. You may wish to evaluate your approach.

 

Hello Charles,

In addition to the excellent advice you've received, I would like to add:

If you have selected a registrar already, ask them what is the process for the Stage 1 and 2. They should tell you just what to expect; if they don't, I would consider different registrar(s).

As Andy said, expect being asked for records up to a year old, but if you have done 40 PPAPs of course they will only select a sample to review in depth.

The office personnel I would consider most likely to be interviewed for audits are Sales & Customer Service, Procurement, Engineering, Quality Assurance, HR and Planning. Standards are asking for evidence that competence has been determined. You can expect to be asked how that determination is made. Certificates are records but don't by themselves describe the process.

I hope this helps.

 

I'm not sure it would work like that, but I also understand that CB auditors may have accepted it in the past.

Imagine someone applies for a job as a band member, they have "guitar player" on their resume and the job description states "Must own and be able to play 6 string acoustic and electric guitar, 12 string or bass preferable). A candidate turns up for an interview. Great personality, good looks, bring photos of gear (Epiphone SG electric, Fender 6 string acoustic, even an Epiphone EDS 1275 twin neck in white). Discusses influences on their playing: Jimmy Page, Hank Marvin (Shadows), Steve Hackett etc and the interview goes well. They get the job. First gig: Out comes the SG and plugs in, tunes up, plays a couple of major triads - but can't actually play more than a few strummed chords...

 

Actually, that is no longer true with many companies. The fear of litigation over a bad reference has led many companies to limit themselves strictly to confirming a past employee was indeed employed between "start date" and "end date." HR policies often state that current employees are not allowed to provide a reference for a past employee. While I am sure that there are still companies out there that will provide more information, my last three employers all had this same policy.

 

Of course, in different countries, cultures etc. this can happen. My experience in the USA is much as Miner is suggesting. Ain't gonna go well. Indeed, if we apply the maxim, "You don't leave a bad job, you leave a bad boss" - which is true in my case - added to which my current job vs my last assignment were not even close - it would have gone badly...(for someone)

 

I recall a couple of job applications I've made where I took some actual stuff I'd created along to the (2nd) interview. That created the "Wow" I was looking for to seal the employment offer...

 

This should be approached with caution unless the material is not made at work. In a signed agreement my employer claims the rights to anything I create while on the job.

 

There's a big difference between "show and tell" and copying and pasting. One example was the tools I'd made as an apprentice, the other was from a company which no longer existed.