Shaping tomorrow’s talent through university partnerships

How many students head to university with a dream of becoming an internal auditor? Anecdotal evidence suggests not many. But many apply for finance, business and accountancy courses because they want to become accountants or investment bankers. The North West Chartered IIA Committee decided to see whether they could change this by working more closely with students at Lancaster University.

“The idea emerged from discussions about how we could gain fresh perspectives and engage with potential internal auditors,” explains Maxine Grainger CIA, who chairs the committee. “We approached Lancaster University and agreed that we would do a presentation for students about what internal audit is and the opportunities for careers in internal audit. This started the ball rolling.”

Last summer, three committee members attended the first event, which attracted over 50 students. They hosted a question and answer session and facilitated a game that took attendees through a variety of processes and examples of different internal audit activities.  

“This was a trial session and feedback showed that the students enjoyed it, so we looked to see how we could build on this and develop the relationship further,” Grainger says. “All the attendees at this session were studying for financial subjects and we don’t want to perpetuate the idea that internal audit is only suitable for accountants, so we now want to attract more people from across disciplines.” 

Insights and overviews 

They were introduced to Jack Gifford, a second-year business studies student at Lancaster University who was about to become president of the Accounting Society. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I left university, but I knew that I liked working with people and problem-solving,” he says. “When I spoke to people at the Chartered IIA they talked about being a strategic adviser and the people side. Accountancy can be all about the numbers, but this was more about problem-solving and I liked the idea of having an overview of the entire organisation.”

He worked with Kim Cowell, a member of the North West Chartered IIA Committee, to arrange an event in early November. “We wanted to mix information with an engaging, interactive session, so we invited four speakers – Derek Jamieson, Head of Member Services at the Chartered IIA, plus Anne-Marie Harrop, Regional Assurance Director at MIAA, Joseph Morgan, Global Head of Data Analytics and People Development in Barclays Internal Audit, and Joe Johnson, Director at UNIAC. Each gave a ten-minute talk about what internal audit does at a day-to-day level in their organisation. We finished with an hour doing a practical challenge that asked people to solve a problem and present their solutions.”

The session was well attended and Gifford collaborated with other Management School societies to publicise it. “For future events, we’re thinking of going in after lectures in different subjects to promote these more widely,” he adds.

After the event, he approached the speaker from MIAA and asked whether they could give him a short work experience placement during the holidays. They agreed and he found out far more about the profession over a week in MIAA’s Salford office.

“A lot of my family works in business management and some are familiar with internal audit, but they don’t know the details,” Gifford says. “Among students, no one is aware of it, or they think it’s something to do with producing internal financial statements.” However, after the session, six students contacted him requesting more information and all the responses he gathered were positive. 

Next steps 

Gifford and the North West Committee members are now planning the next event. The Chartered IIA has agreed to sponsor the Accounting Society by offering small prizes for attendees who complete the interactive case study, refreshments and branded hoodies for the organisers to wear when they attend careers fairs or publicise events.

“We’re keeping some elements of last-year’s event, but adding the case study challenge and about half an hour’s ‘speed networking’ session so that attendees can talk directly to the speakers for five minutes,” Gifford explains. “We’ll start in a lecture theatre and then move to a hub space with informal tables where students will present their case study solutions to an internal audit manager.”

Attendees who complete the case study challenge will get a certificate that they can add to their CVs and post on their LinkedIn profiles.

Grainger says they’re hoping to attract larger numbers from more varied backgrounds to future events. “We also offering support in areas including CVs and interview techniques,” she says. 

“The purpose is to get a broader perspective – we want to emphasise that internal audit is not about completing tick lists, but about being a trusted adviser and adding value to the business. We want to engage students in conversations about what good governance looks like and why it matters, how this fits with risk management and how we support operational efficiency. Internal audit is about so much more than compliance. We want to introduce them to the different ways to be a good modern internal auditor in a variety of sectors.”

Future events will include practical specifics, such as mock interviews and personal advice for those who want to know more, or contacts for those who would like to chat to an internal auditor before applying for a role. Gifford says the sponsorship is welcome because offering refreshments and prizes attracts people to attend the event. Many of the other university societies are sponsored and he says it gives them a professional image, raises their profile and develops contacts for advice.  

“We can use it on our website and when we attend the Freshers’ Fair and other events. It gives us more credibility,” he says. He found his work experience at MIAA valuable and would like to be able to promote this kind of opportunity more widely in future. “If we could offer a week’s placement to the winner of the interactive event, it would be a huge attraction, particularly for those in their first or second years when there are fewer opportunities like this,” he says.

Gifford is also keen for the relationship with the Chartered IIA to develop after he leaves, so he has been discussing its progression with the Management School staff and the incoming officers of the Accounting Society. Many of the staff lack knowledge about internal audit careers, so the connection with the Chartered IIA is also useful for them, he adds.

For Grainger, the opportunities to inform and engage the next generation of internal auditors is too good to miss – and she would like to see similar engagements with other universities and colleges across the country. “We need to explain to future internal auditors the wide scope of our activities, the variety of the role and the opportunities to progress their careers,” she says. “We get to the bottom of everything from customer services to operations and our scope is business-wide, so it’s so much more interesting than a role in, say, finance. Every day is different, we add real value to business and it’s a great foundation for a variety of career paths.”