Linda Pham is a technology risk consultant in Protiviti's Houston office. We asked her the following questions to get an idea of what her day to day responsibilities are as a technology risk 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?
I attended Texas A&M University and received a BBA in Management Information Systems (MIS).
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?
The most helpful courses I took were Business Information Security, Risk Management and Management of Information Systems. The BIS focused on security issues in the business industry today. Risk Management dealt with various business processes and technical writing. As a technology risk consultant, I use the knowledge of both classes on the daily. When it comes to choosing majors and courses, the best advice is to look at the big picture. Determine your interests and try to gear your classes towards that and your potential career path. It may be tempting to pick classes that have the best schedule or easiest professor, but that won’t really matter in the end if you can’t leverage what you learned towards your future.
3. What are your primary work activities on a day to day basis?
Depending on the project, my work activities can vary. Normally I interview process owners, draft memos/reports, request documents, test controls and the like.
4. What industries have you worked in?
I’ve had the opportunity to work in various industries including Higher Education, Oil & Gas, and Retail.
5. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
What I enjoy the most and least about consulting actually stems from the same thing – the constant change. The ability to work on different projects in a wide array of industries is extremely valuable, and something I look forward to every day. It’s exciting to work with a new team in a new environment every so often, as it keeps things fresh and eliminates any sense of monotony. However, with change comes the unpredictable state of schedules and the challenge of transitioning from one project to the next.
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?
Do your research. After you gain a better understanding of what the consulting profession entails you can better prepare yourself for the next step. You’ll be more aware of what classes to focus on, who to meet at career fairs, where you want to intern, etc. Also, since consulting is such a people profession, it’s important to give yourself as much exposure to group dynamics as possible.