Fun opportunities in Internal audit

Over the past weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in an Area event at my company. They rented out part of a theme park and invited employees in the area to hang out for the evening. As my audit was in town, they invited me as well. It was a great opportunity to see people I had met on past audits and enjoy an amusement park.

I am in constant amazement at the different events and opportunities I have in the accounting field. During the evening event, I interacted with VP's and controllers of different company functions. It's great to have so many contacts all over the company and country. With auditing, you're interacting with so many people on a daily basis you forget how many people you are actually forming relationships with that can help you as you develop your career. This past weekend helped remind me of that.

Before entering other jobs in accounting/finance, I think it's a really good idea to go through an opportunity in external/internal auditing. There is such a huge learning curve and development of communication skills that are really important later in your career. You're constantly having to learn a different accounting rule and process and then assess if it's right or not and that helps one to quickly review a later issue and come up with a solution in a quick, effective manner. You're also constantly having to talk to people in an executive position, and this helps you develop those communication skills that will help you move up through the ranks.