Where are the internal auditors of the future? Top tips for jobseekers and CAEs
The market for internal auditors and corporate governance professionals is good – with the potential to get stronger. Professional journeys are also becoming more varied, with more opportunities to branch out, specialise, move sideways and return.
What advice can recruiters offer internal audit jobseekers and the CAEs who hire them? And where will the internal auditors of the future come from? Is AI really killing off the entry level jobs and traditional training grounds?
We asked three recruiters to tell us what they are seeing.
Advice to jobseekers
-
“Stop chasing job titles,” says Julia White, Director at Astrum Search. “The grass is not always greener and moving too often may damage your career prospects.”
-
Be strategic. Think about what kind of experience you need for your next step. Would a sideways step into a FTSE 100 company be better for your long-term goals than promotion to a smaller team?
-
Try to get involved with a change project or AI audit to build up your experience.
-
If you can’t get direct experience with AI or data analytics in your current role, consider getting the CISA qualification, join a Chartered IIA forum or book yourself on a course (see below).
-
Ask your recruitment consultant for their advice. Explain what you want to do and ask what you should do next.
-
Find yourself a network of mentors who will give you honest advice and feedback.
-
Polish up your communication skills and think about how you can demonstrate curiosity, imagination and aptitude in an interview.
-
Research the company and show that you have done this research in your conversation. As more people use AI to write CVs, and more companies use AI to sift them, the interview is your chance to demonstrate your human skills.
-
Remember that it takes at least six months to settle into a new job, don’t expect to love it from day one.
-
Think about alternative roles and career opportunities. There are new types of job that may be perfect for an internal auditor – in, for example, technology risk management and sustainability teams. These may give you a great springboard back into a more senior internal audit job.
Advice for CAEs
-
Think broadly about who you need and what they need to be able to do. Don’t just recruit to fit the last person’s job description.
-
Consider what you are offering – the norm is now three days a week in the office, but some candidates would welcome more flexibility. Could you offer this?
-
How could the role advance the individual’s career – what experiences will they get?
-
How do you interview for communication skills and personality? If an interviewee says they have specific technological experience, can they communicate what difference this makes and what they contributed to the project personally?
-
Be honest about what your team does. Most good recruits don’t want to go into a role that is just doing compliance assurance work. They want to make a tangible impact and be a trusted advisor. But don’t promise this if you can’t provide it.
-
Ask whether you could hire someone more senior part-time if it brought in more experience at the same price? Or think about an interim role for a fixed term/project that could teach new skills to team members.
-
Ask whether you are better using a recruiter who can find someone with all the experience you need, plus an external viewpoint, or whether you want someone from inside the organisation who knows the business but needs internal audit training.
-
Think about setting up a secondment scheme from the business or taking on internal audit apprentices/trainees.
The pipeline
The threat that a reduction in Big Four accountancy firm trainees will reduce the pipeline of potential internal auditors is real, according to White. “Most CAEs have tight budgets and don’t feel they have capacity to train, especially in organisations where it there is no regulatory requirement to have internal audit,” she says.
Steven Driver, Manager Internal Audit Controls & Assurance at Barclay Simpson, says some clients are looking for more diverse teams and he is seeing more candidates who have moved from second- or first-line roles into internal audit and stayed there.
“Opportunities to move in and out of internal audit and progress careers with sideways and upwards moves are now more important to candidates,” he says. “Fewer candidates come through adverts now, so we must be creative about where we find those who are watching passively. We need to use our contacts and imagination.”
Secondments bring in new people, but White points out that clients who use recruitment agencies generally want people who can hit the ground running. If they can get people via secondments or are training apprentices they don’t need to use a recruiter.
She believes that CAEs could do more to educate audit committees to be more flexible in their recruitment requirements. “We still see CAEs with an accountancy background who want all new recruits to also have an accountancy qualification,” she says.
Craig Longland, Global Director at Audit & Risk Recruitment, believes that the internal audit career journey hasn’t changed for everyone, but there are new openings for those who want to specialise. “Last year, we saw our largest activity in internal audit manager roles, rather than senior internal auditor. This was because clients were asking for more expertise in specific areas. However, we’re also seeing a greater variety of opportunities at entry level as well.”
He believes this is because companies are becoming more aware of the necessity for, and value of, corporate governance.
Increased use of technology is also enabling people to stay in internal audit and progress their careers differently, he adds. For example, internal audit roles that used to require constant travel may now require only occasional days away from home, which enables people with families or care commitments to continue to do them.
All agree that formal diversity programmes are becoming less high profile. This may be because of pushback, particularly in the US, but it may also be because lots of work has already been done and the market is less frenetic than it was a few years ago.
Every organisation says they want the “best” candidate for the job, but perceptions of what is best may vary widely. However, other trends in the marketplace, including AI and the potential for more flexibility may have a longer term impact than some formal programmes.
Further information
The Chartered IIA offers a range of specialist internal audit courses relating to cyber security, AI, data analytics and communication skills.
Members can also check out the latest roles on the Chartered IIA jobs board.