My Journey into an Internal Auditing Career

GUEST BLOG
My journey into the internal audit profession has had many twists and turns, but along the way I’ve learned a great deal and improved, not just as a professional, but also as a person.

As an advocate for the internal audit profession, I’ve encouraged young people to pursue a career in internal audit and here, I would like to share my own story of how I became an internal auditor and the many different experiences I’ve enjoyed along the way, as well as some advice for those considering entering the profession.

In the final year of my accounting studies, I discussed with one of my professors my interest in pursuing a career through which I could develop an understanding of the entire operations of an organization. He suggested I explore the potential of becoming an internal auditor. Internal auditors, he explained, are involved in all facets of the business, from strategic to operational activities, which allow them to understand and add value across the company. The idea of journeying through so many different disciplines and aspects that make up the modern corporation excited me and I set out to learn more about internal auditing.

First, I researched a bit to find key prerequisite for the job. I found Big Four accounting firm experience, while not a requirement, could help me on my way, as well as acquiring professional auditing qualifications, such as Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and others.

Soon, I enrolled in CIA studies and passed it along with my ACCA and accounting degree at the same time. This additional specialized professional degree gave me an edge over other recent graduates while applying to big four firms for employment. To my delight, PwC offered me an opportunity in audit assurance (external audit) and EY offered a job in risk advisory (internal audit and risk management), both excellent opportunities. Before taking the final decision, I consulted a friend who back then was working in external audit for one of the Big Four firms, who recommended I choose the EY Business Risk Advisory option, which turns out to be a great decision for me and set me on my way.

After EY I moved on to internal auditing jobs at Telenor, HSA Group, and Emaar Industries and Investments, and have strived to continue improving as an internal auditor and always learning more along the way.

That’s how my internal audit journey started and continues to this day.

Why Become an Internal Auditor?
Now, the question arises, how rewarding is this career? The simple answer is, “it varies like any other profession.” Having said that, I personally see many compelling reasons to pursue a career in internal audit, such as the opportunities for professional development, and the continuous and rising demand for auditors. Internal audit is also a statutory requirement in many parts of the world at least for publicly traded companies. Further, the global recession, corporate failures, banking crises, money laundering, corporate fraud, cyber-attacks, volatile market, disruptive innovation, and many other developments all necessitate the need to have more internal auditors. In other words, if you are looking for job security, this is the place to be.

In fact, audit manager topped the list of Best Jobs in the UK for 2019 as per this Forbes report. And if that’s not enough, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 10 percent increase in demand for auditors from the years 2016 – 2026.

If you love traveling and interacting with people, you will get a lot of opportunities in the internal audit profession. I remember one time a recruiter approached me for a job with a reputed company, which would require me to travel to 70 different countries to audit the company’s operation but I referred this job to a friend as traveling to that extent is not my cup of tea.

Internal Audit Career Routes
Based on my experience, I would recommend the following two approaches to enter in the internal audit profession. One is for those in the entry level route and the other is for experienced professionals. Remember, it is never to late for a business savvy professional to become an internal auditor!

Entry Level Route
Those who are still students and pursuing an academic or professional qualification route they might follow the following steps:

• In the past, the internal audit profession was dominated by the accounting or business professional, but now there is much awareness that students from other disciplines, including technology, psychology, law, and many others can also join this profession. I have encountered professionals like engineers, doctors, IT experts, and many others working as internal auditors.
• It may help to combine technical expertise with basic accounting or business knowledge, which can provide an edge over other candidates in the job market.
• People pursuing accounting studies (CPA/ACCA/CA) can add professional certifications, such as CIA, CISA or CFE to increase their chances of landing a job in the internal audit profession.
• Lastly, a career with an accounting firm (as they specialized in a specific sector or industries and need accounting and business graduates and other technical skills) will help to sharpen the skill sets needed in this profession.

Experienced Professional Route

• No matter which career you are, you can always obtain the basic audit, accounting, and business knowledge before considering a career in internal audit.
• The reason I emphasize the business knowledge is because the market still lacks the awareness that internal auditors can come from outside the realm of the accounting profession. So I don’t want new aspirants to be at a disadvantage while pursuing a career in internal audit.
• Those who already have accounting and business backgrounds and qualifications, I will recommend pursuing internal audit certification such as the CIA (widely accepted) to obtain a basic understanding of the role of internal auditors.
• Initially, once you have some theoretical background, try to move within your organization in the internal audit department either on a rotational basis or permanently.
• In case where your organization does not have an internal audit department, you might consider moving laterally to a job in your own field in any big size company which has internal audit department and gradually try to move internally to the internal audit department.
• If you are lucky, you might apply right away for an internal audit job and land one, but without prior experience, the chances are less. I hear all the time, “I can teach someone to audit, what I can’t teach is how to be a communicator and all the other good skills internal auditors possess.”

It’s also true that the internal audit profession provides the flexibility and background to pursue other careers. The auditing skills can be used interchangeably to pursue other related professions such as Statutory (External) Audit, IT, risk management, forensics (fraud investigation), compliance last but not least the very obvious option finance and accounting.

Now the choice is yours, do you want to be an internal auditor?

Please feel free to share your own journey in the comments below for others to learn and be motivated to choose this rewarding profession. 

Arif Zaman brings with more than a decade of proven experience in internal audit, risk management, and fraud investigation. He is the head of internal audit at private joint stock company based in Dubai, UAE.