Hi all. I recently attended an interview for a graduate position in Internal Audit and Risk Management, and was wondering what impact accepting the job (assuming it is offered to me) will have on my future chances of getting into consultancy. The professional qualification I would be working towards is with the IIA as apposed to an accountancy qualification. As far as I am aware the IIA qualification is broader than ACA/ACCA, covering areas such as Accounting, IT and HR and therefore seems like a useful tool for consulting. However, I have never seen it mentioned on this site and was wondering how it is regarded by consultancy firms or in industry in general? Also, regards practical experience, this type of work seems a lot closer to consultancy than External Audit, in terms of working with clients to minimise risk and improve business control systems across the board. Will this type of experience be valued by consultancy firms further down the line, or do they tend to look more for qualified accountants with experience in Audit/Tax/Corporate Finance etc? Any advice gratefully received. SH

Hi guys. Just been offered the job, and could really do with some advise regards my original question before I accept! anybody??? Thanks.

Hello S.H. First of all, congratulations on getting the job offer. My company is recruiting heavily for finance focused management consultants, and I am sorry to say that we are not seeing many ex-auditors coming through and making the grade. On paper it sounds like a very broad proposition, but the reality is that auditing does not necessarily gear you up for a consulting career, however, internal audit is probably more useful than external audit. At least not immediately. We do have some ex-auditors on board, but they have usually joined a little later in life and have acquired some good operational/project finance experience along the way. The IIA is not that well known, and if you decide to accept the job, I would strongly lobby for the opportunity to do CIMA or ACA instead (it will make you more marketable in the long run). Just my thoughts - you might want to ask around some more before making the decision. Good luck!

S.H. - I'd say RecruitGal has hit the nail on the head here (excellent advice as ever RecruitGal!). Firstly the transition from accounting / auditing to consulting is not a very well-trodden path. Occasionally recruiters do specifically require prior accounting expertise / qualifications when looking to fill certain niche consulting roles. But I'd say that 95% of the roles you'll see advertised do not make any reference to requiring an accounting qualification - so the range of consulting roles these qualifications will help you get into are limited. RecruitGal's also right to say you should try to get one of the most widely recognised accounting qualifications too - partly to help with getting into consulting but also because it will keep a lot of other career routes (eg. moves into industry) open to you too. Hope that helps & good luck. Tony

Thanks for the advice Tony/RecruitGal, I think I'll accept the position and lobbey for ACCA as Recruit girl suggested, Im told the role Involves some consultancy related assignments, so I should be able to gain some relevant experience. Thanks again. S.H