𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿?
The primary reason 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 an internal auditor is to have an unusually large influence on your organization. After, say, five years of experience you’ll have a level of influence that might take twenty-five years in any other career path.
But the primary reason 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 an internal auditor is to have the opportunity to sample career options. Especially when you’re young, you can’t possibly know enough to make lifelong career decisions. You haven’t seen enough yet to know what interests you. You need time and opportunity to see what ‘fits’. That’s the value of taking a role in Internal Audit.
In internal audit, you might work on a 3-week project that lets you discover what the accounting department does. Then, a few weeks later, maybe you’re involved in operations. You’ll soon learn what the legal department does. You’ll learn how to write. You’ll learn about professional judgment. You’ll learn how to build relationships.
And that’s why confident, smart individuals should start their careers in Internal Audit. Right from the start, you’ll be making contributions, helping your organization be more successful. Admittedly, in small ways at first. But you’ll also be sampling career options. It’s not that you’re expecting to quickly decide on a ‘forever’ career choice. But you’ll get the opportunity to discover things that seem fun and interesting. Things that you think you would really like to learn more about – to ‘try on’.
When you’re young, having a job that lets you sample a lot of career options is … a gold mine.
But not all Internal Audit departments are the same.
In some organizations, an entry-level internal auditor performs the same repetitive steps from one audit to the next. No thinking required. But in 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 audit departments, you’ll actually be learning about whatever area you’re auditing.
Auditors who are dissatisfied after a few years typically talk about “doing the same things over and over”. “It’s so dull.” That’s because their particular internal audit department didn’t prioritize the building of skills and experiences for the individual auditor by providing increasingly important and varied assignments.
The good news is – most do.
So that’s what I would focus on. I would want to find an Internal Audit organization where I will have a breadth of opportunities to discover myself and what I’m good at. Oh, and great people to learn from.
I don’t know of a better way to jump start your career.
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