Profile And Qualities Necessary To Successfully Exercise The Profession Of Internal Auditor

By Author: Ahmad Albari
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The Company's Human Resources Department can provide valuable assistance, which is why it is recommended to discuss in detail the profile of the desired professional.

The basic conditions under which the candidate must be evaluated are:

– Intelligence;

– Skills to deal with people of all levels;

– Technical competence (which is a function of education and practical experience)

With regard to the candidate's level of intelligence, the applicable psychotechnical tests must be oriented to assess the Auditor's basic qualities, such as: judgment and attention capacity, abstract and logical reasoning speed, ability to deal with numerical series, memorization capacity, high volume production, and finally, verbal and written expression skills.

With regard to the ability to deal with people, the psychotechnical tests should assess the level of adjustment of the personality and temperament of the candidate, to point out the one who is firm, without being aggressive, courteous without being submissive, pleasant without being fawning, in short , one that reveals the potential to be successful ...
... in dealing with people. Signs of impulsiveness, emotionality and exaggerated aggressiveness will also be detected by psychotechnical tests.

As for the candidate's technical competence, evaluating it is more a task for the Internal Audit Manager than for the Human Resources department.

However, the Audit Manager may prepare and provide the Human Resources Department with a test on technical aspects to which he wishes to submit the candidate, including questions on Accounting, Audit Theory, Auditing Techniques, Financial Mathematics, Statistics, Data Processing , Tax Legislation, Administration Theory and other matters, as the profile of the desired professional intends to be.

It is clear that the level and content of the questions as well as the weighting of the importance attributed to each subject may vary, from one Department to its own understanding, as to the type of knowledge that the Auditor must have. As a guide and information, we thought it interesting to remember the result of an important survey carried out in the USA, with the objective of identifying the areas of knowledge, in which the Internal Auditor should be familiar, and to what degree. The results of the survey, carried out by “The Institute of International Auditors” on an international scale, including through questionnaires and consultations with numerous entities, became the so-called “Common Body of Knowledge for International Auditors”, which became the basis for the exam of the “CIA” – Certified Internal Auditor.

The survey revealed the following general areas as the “Internal Auditor's Body of Knowledge”:

- Accounting and Finance

– Auditors in UAE

– Behavioural Sciences

– Communications

– Electronic Data Processing System

- Economy

– Legal Aspects of Business

– The Administrative Process and Managerial Activities

- Quantitative methods

– Systems and Methods

Interviews

Following the tests, the Audit Manager will submit the candidate to a personal interview.

We believe that, in fact, interviews can reveal very important aspects of the candidate's personality, provided, of course, that we know how to direct the questions well and conveniently extrapolate the answers. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare a list of questions to be asked in advance, around, for example, the following subjects:

– What kind of work did you do?

– What was the approach?

– What kind of report did you write?

– How do you maintain your school education?

– What do you think of Internal Audit?

– What kind of work do you like the most?

– What do you do in your free time?

– What were your professional achievements?

– Why do you want to change jobs? What do you dislike about your current job?

All these questions will help the interviewer to get an idea of the type of person the candidate is; but it is necessary that the results be noted, as a means of forcing a proper evaluation of the candidate, and also to be compared with those of other candidates.

Specific Characteristics of the Internal Auditor

We cannot fail to bear in mind that, at the time of admission, what we actually do is try to visualize the potential of the candidate, and in these terms, for some qualities that are in fact important for the Auditor.

However, it is certain that the person in charge of evaluating the candidate should be concerned with observing whether the candidate has qualities that will be particularly required of the future Auditor.

- Curiosity

– Critical Attitude

– Attention (in the sense of considering all possible sources of information and all interrelationships)

– Persistence

- Energy

- Self confidence

- Courage

– Ability to judge correctly

– Integrity (qualities that make others trust the Auditor’s information and conclusions)

The same authors, seeking to verify which characteristics most contribute to the Internal Auditor obtaining respect and cooperation, suggest the following:

– Honesty and Integrity

– Dedication to the interests of the company

– Reasonable humility

– Professional bearing

- Empathy

– Image-consistent conduct

The set of test and interview results will indicate to the Audit Manager, the best among the candidates, who should be admitted.

This done, the Manager still has three very important tasks to perform: promoting the integration of the new member into the Department, studying with dedication how to exploit his potential, demanding his effective contribution to the work, and finally, planning his career.

We are leader in the training segment focused on professional qualification in the area, developed the Online Training Course for Internal Auditors – Levels I and II, with the objective of presenting professionals with basic and fundamental knowledge for the exercise of Auditing activity Internal, meeting the standards practiced in accordance with the Code of Ethics and International Standards for Internal Auditing (IPPF) of the Global Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA Global).

This training was developed with a focus on training new Internal Auditors or beginning their careers, companies in the process of implementing or creating the Internal Audit area and others interested in gaining knowledge of Internal Auditing activities, as well as professionals who wish to update themselves in the face of the labour market, thus offering an even more optimized result that adds value to the area.

The aspects related to the training of the internal auditor will be discussed in a broad and objective way, in order to reaffirm the importance of this function and of Internal Audit as an integral part of the global system of control and management of Business Risks, making the professional able to carry out the activities in a practical and objective way.

Ahmad Alagbari Chartered Accountants

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info@aaa-cas.com

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