Internal Audit Review

On a day to day basis I conduct audit work, supporting audit manager in planning, fieldwork and reporting. As part of my role I also engage with audit stakeholders to conduct walkthroughs and understand more about the business processes and controls. Also understanding the profits and losses of each business and the circumstances that create and influence this.

As part of my role communication is key both with team members establishing strong communication to share information and knowledge in addition to conducting training sessions. Also communicating to our audit stakeholders in both understanding the audit process as well as understanding the business processes and controls. When dealing with stakeholders I have learnt to be open and honest as well as understanding to better understand their point of view and opinion especially when issues are found and actions are required to resolve them.

Since joining I have really felt part of the team and members actively reach out to talk about both non-audit work and audit work. The work undertaken can vary day in day out which makes for an interesting week and allows me to get a greater and wider understanding of the organisation.

My programme is well structured and organized and communicated through my training provider Kaplan. The programme consists firstly of the completion of the IIA Certificate in Internal audit and business risk, then the completion of the internal audit practioner exam, followed by a IIA case study exam and a professional discussion in which we discuss our experience of the past 2 years.

My employer provides a significant amount of support to me in the form of a talent coach responsible for a group of us. This is our point of contact for any apprenticeship related questions or queries. We also have a talent coach from Kaplan who provides the same support in terms of meeting our requirements.

When working towards our qualification we must self study for revision and mock exam practice. As poart of the IAP course we are enrolled in several day workshops covering each element of the syllabus. However, this is primarily discussion between attendees and doesn't provide high levels of assistance or training which again is primarily done with self study.

I don't feel that my qualification improves my overall performance within my team as I improve from learning and listening to others feedback and comments for me. In this way I find benefits me the most. However, I would still take the qualification exam and earn the IAP as it is a strong accreditation that is now linked with my name and will help me when applying for future roles.

Barclays offers a range of extra-curricular activities across each of its locations. Each location has a site website whereby all clubs and activities are posted to encourage employees to get involved and join in pushing across the wellbeing message. One example being the football team in London which meets several nights a week with practice and a match.

Yes

Barclays has an extremely positive attitude and mindset from the top down and supports its junior employees well and understands their position and the balance they need and require for both training and development as well as combatting the workload which requires more time than usual due to their juniority.

I would encourage those thinking about applying to actively research the business area which you may want to join in, any relevant professional qualifications which you may want to join and start as well as any facts that will seperate you from the rest of the group i.e. what awards has Barclays won.