My career isn’t glamorous. You won’t find it on TV crime shows. No one grew up saying, “I want to be an internal auditor.” Internal audit doesn’t get the spotlight — but maybe it should. 

Ask anyone in the field, and they’ll tell you that internal audit is one of the most unexpectedly rewarding careers out there. Many, if not most, auditors stumble into the field but then often end up staying for their entire career. That’s definitely my story. I followed the classic advice: major in accounting, land a role at a Big 4 firm and start climbing. After a few years, it was clear that public accounting wasn’t for me, but I still had no idea where my journey would take me. I decided to give internal audit a try because I had heard there was amazing work-life balance — and I have never looked back.

Over the years, I’ve had experiences that “college-me” could never have imagined. I’ve shown up at a casino at 2 a.m. and watched a “drop and count” (the nightly process of physically collecting and reconciling all money in the machines and game tables), visited the oil and gas fields of West Texas and wen to a cash distribution facility under armed guard. I’ve learned how coal ash is turned into usable products and how building trusses are measured and cut. I’ve found fraud and investigated employees. It’s all in a day’s work for internal auditors. 

Few careers offer the chance to investigate, influence, protect and grow all in a single day but internal audit does. Here are just a few of the many hats that internal auditors wear every day: 

• Corporate detective: Asking thoughtful (and often unexpected!) questions is an auditor’s superpower. They spot patterns that others might overlook, investigate anomalies, dig into data and follow leads to uncover root causes. For those of us who are naturally curious (I prefer this word over nosy!) and always ask “why,” internal audit is a great fit. See something that just looks a little off? Dig into the data and figure out what happened.
• Trusted advisor: The best auditors don’t just fill out checklists. They are strategic partners to management and the board of directors. I admittedly didn’t realize for many years that we’re ultimately in the “relationship game,” but auditors must form strong relationships across all departments. We earn trust through the objectivity and insight we provide and by not only focusing on what went wrong, but also on what’s working. When people first meet auditors, they are often nervous. True audit pros know how to garner trust and still deliver tough messages.
• Risk wrangler: Most people don’t think much about risk (or don’t want to!) but auditors do. Auditors of the past often had a “historical looking” lens and spent the majority of their time analyzing data and looking back at what happened. Today’s auditors stay up to date on emerging risks, trends and technologies to keep organizations safe.  Auditors are explorers — scanning the risk horizon to assess what could go wrong and how bad it could be before it happens.
• Lifelong student: If you loved school — learning and asking questions — internal audit is your dream job. Every audit is a crash course in a new topic, process or system. Auditors are constantly expanding their knowledge across industries, technologies and regulations. And best of all, you get paid to keep learning, questioning and growing!

Internal audit is one of those rare paths where you can make a real impact, grow endlessly and never be bored (and trust me, I get bored easily!). This career has challenged me in ways I didn’t expect and opened doors I didn’t even know existed. I’ve gained a front-row seat to how organizations really work and a direct line to the executives and leaders making things happen. I’ve helped shape how both organizations and individuals succeed. If you're curious, adaptable and driven to make things better, then this might just be the career you didn’t know you were looking for.