Laura King is a senior internal audit consultant in Protiviti's Dallas office. We asked her the following questions to get an idea of what her day to day responsibilities are as an internal audit professional. Below you will find her responses and advice if you are thinking about entering into this profession.
1. What was your college and your major?
Texas A&M University, BBA Accounting, MS Finance
2. What courses did you find the most helpful to prepare you for your current position? What advice do you have for students about choosing a major and choosing courses?
I feel the audit classes, technical accounting classes, and classes requiring excel proficiency and writing skills were the most helpful as it relates to the technical aspects of the job. However, I believe that any class which involves team projects, etc. will be the most beneficial for a consulting career as you will almost always be working with a team of individuals on consulting engagements. It is beneficial to understand how to work with different personality types and how to tailor your work/communications/etc. depending on your teammates.
3. What are your primary work activities on a day to day basis?
Of course primary work activities vary by project, but a typical day consists of working with other Protiviti personnel on the project team to ensure everyone is on the same page about completion dates, work to be completed, review comments, etc.; meeting with client personnel to discuss project status, discuss/determine risks and controls related to the process/department being audited; identifying gaps in the process, ineffective/inefficient processes, bottlenecks, etc.; determining the most appropriate resolutions for issues noted and discussing with client management to come to a final consensus and resolution plan; responding to any client concerns and/or needs; reviewing work produced by consultants, working through unresolved issues with the project manager; and recording time accordingly for each project.
4. What industries have you worked in?
I have worked in the financial services, retail, manufacturing, and real estate industries.
5. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
The things I enjoy most are:
- The flexibility of our job
- The ability to gain insight into multiple industries
- The ability to gain experience in multiple service areas
- The knowledge you gain working with such a wide range of co-workers with such extensive experience
- Working in a dynamic environment
The things I enjoy least are:
- Stubborn client personnel who are resistant to change even when it will better the process
- Project timeline delays due to client delays
These two items are not the norm for all projects; however, you will inevitably run into it during you career as a consultant.
6. What advice would you give to students interested in the internal audit/risk consulting business? Anything you would do different or change? Any success strategies to share?
I would advise students to determine where their passions lie and to learn as much as they can in those areas. Then, once they begin their career they should be as proactive as possible to request projects in that area. You will always be happier in your career if you are working in areas you enjoy and find interesting. You will also be more inclined to do the research in those areas to become an expert. Oh, and make sure that you take classes which prepare you to communicate in formal written form as you will almost always present final results from any consulting/audit project in a formal written format, not to mention, a great percentage of your communication with the client will be email.