Where can I catch a fish? Fishing for Audit Talents.

A Great Model for Building Your Audit Team

I wish I own the lake behind my house. If I did, then I could fish all day without having to travel miles from my house to a bigger lake. My family is just blessed with the view of the lake and nothing more. I think the house cost us more just due to the lake view, but we haven’t gotten much benefit from the lake yet. Right at the bank of the lake is a big sign that reads: “No fishing, no swimming and no throwing of rocks”. “What exactly is anyone allowed to do on this lake?”, I wondered and asked around, since I really like fishing. It happens that the lake is an artificial one and the homeowners’ association would like to keep the population of the fishes in the water growing and the sign was meant to achieve that objective. You can imagine the temptation of seeing lots of fishes like carp and trout but not able to touch them. Sometimes the best talents are just like that. Recruiters see their profiles on LinkedIn, and you may hear such talents speak at your professional events, but it could be a little difficult convincing them to join your team. Some enticing compensation and benefit packages could do the trick, but do you really need the best and the brightest? The answer would depend on what you really want to accomplish on your audit team.

     I am sure you know where to find the right talents to fill up each need in your organization. I mean who doesn’t? Just look on “Monster.com” or “Indeed”. If not those common places, you would rather pay a recruiter to do the talent sourcing for you, at least you can’t go wrong using an expert, right? While all these are great ways to recruit talents, it is very important to note that they are all just tools to help get the right candidate into your door. Should you recruit from the top and highly rated schools or should you just settle for applicants from less expensive colleges who are more likely to stay with your company longer? Do you want to hire from the Big4 or regional firms? 

The types of projects or audits you perform would determine the kind of auditors you would need and where you should be looking for the right candidates. 

I like the recruiting model used by one of the firms that I was opportune to have worked with. The company hires several associate level auditors and experienced associates to do the day-to-day audit work, being supervised by senior associates and managers, forming the core audit team. The senior associates are mostly from regional accounting and consulting firms. Aside from the core audit team, the firm has a team of subject matter experts that are consulted whenever the auditors have some challenging issues to resolve. These experts are mostly from ivy league colleges and top consulting firms or have a wealth of experience in a particular sphere to be considered subject matter experts. The model although simple appears to be very effective. 

I see two main advantages: 

• The cost of recruiting is reduced as most of the talents are sourced directly out of colleges, referrals or from direct applicants on job boards like “Indeed” or “Monster.com.” The recruiters ensure that all candidates being recruited have degrees in accounting, finance and information systems but also have a plan to get certified in CPA, CIA, CISA, CISSP (depending on the role). The recruiting criteria (a college degree from less expensive but accredited colleges and relevant certifications) seem cheaper than recruiting these kinds of candidates from ivy league colleges. The recruiters have built a working relationship with some colleges as well as professors from those colleges who can recommend candidates to recruit. Everybody wins; the college can boast of the number of graduates that get hired by an elite company, while the company gets a pool of talents easily each year with much more confidence than just interviewing thousands of online applicants. 
• The expert team focus on continuous improvement and strategic planning for the core audit team. They keep up with the changes in the regulations and developments affecting the industry as well as the company. These expert teams also build programs for knowledge sharing in the company, making the best resources available to anyone in the company needing their services. 

I really like this model and wanted to share it with you just in case it might help in building your audit team. Although it might work better for a big company, a small company can also benefit from it. There are obvious costs to building a team like this, but if you want to fish for the right talent this might be a good model to adopt.