Mike Jacka is an internal auditor from Phoenix with more than 25 years of experience within the field. Currently, he works for Farmers Insurance Group where he is a senior audit manager responsible for overseeing the operations of a staff of more than 100 people. He is a volunteer trainer at seminars for the Institute of Internal Auditors, author of a couple of books on business mapping, and has written several articles for Internal Auditor Magazine. Jacka also manages a blog on the magazine's website, From the Mind of Mike Jacka, where he shares his thoughts on auditing-related issues.

Why did you decide to pursue this career field?
I didn't really decide to pursue it, I just fell into it. Someone suggested that accounting was a lucrative field, so I went back to college (after getting an archaeology degree) to get my B.S. in accounting. After I finished, I went to work at Farmers Insurance as an accountant. After six months of doing the same things, an opening came up in internal audit. The people in the internal auditing department sat behind us and they were having too much fun, so I instantly applied. I never looked back.

What type of preparation did you do to get into this field?
I had no real preparation specifically for internal auditing. Although, at the time, all internal auditors were required to have accounting degrees, so I had that one covered. I will say that, shortly after I joined the department, I started going for the certified internal auditor designation to catch up on the parts I was missing.

How did your education help you in your career?
My wide variety of education was probably my best asset. Effective auditing is about thinking sideways from the way everyone else does. And the broader your education, the better your chances of thinking sideways.

What was your career path like in this field?
I followed the career path that was in place at the time—auditor, field auditor, senior field auditor, audit supervisor. I then worked for our home office as an auditing specialist, the training ground for managers, which means that my next position was as an auditing manager. From there it went different directions where for a while I was charged with training, for a while charged with fraud investigations and for a while a variety of other special projects. I eventually was made a senior auditing manager, which is where I am today, and have had various responsibilities over the last few years.

What types of skills is someone required to have to work in your position?
While I don't know the perfect answer to this question, I think you need to be able to communicate, write and coordinate, as well as prioritize, analyze and supervise and all the other "izes" you can think of. I've also always felt that there are three things a person must have in order to be a really good auditor—creativity, inquisitiveness and the ability to synthesize information. You give me those traits, and I can train someone to do everything.

What do you do on a typical workday?
The majority of time I answer emails and go to meetings. But, as I'm sure you've heard, there really is no typical workday. Today was literally a series of meetings with my direct reports discussing year-end performance. Yesterday was a series of meetings with the AICs [auditors in charge] of various audits to ensure everything was going right. During this week, I've also attended a meeting with the audit committee and another meeting with senior executives to develop corrective action on an audit finding. Early in the week, I attended GAM [the General Audit Management Conference] while providing feedback to auditors on work that was being done. Oh, throw in there a couple of meetings about our quarterly and annual schedules. Yes, my position is kind of meeting driven, but there are a wide gamut of activities and reasons for the meetings.

Do you plan to advance to another position within your career field?
The obvious move would be becoming a chief audit executive. If not here, somewhere else. However, I also think there is quite a bit of consulting work out there and, whenever I leave the company, I may go that way.

What type of person do you think is best suited for a job in your field?
Probably the best person is the antithesis of the type we predominantly have. Audit is as much about marketing and relationships as it is about anything else. Yes, auditors have to be able to analyze and get to root causes, but they also have to be able to get along and sell those findings. I worked with two different people who were polar opposites—one was successful, the other was not. The first I once described as someone who could rub you the wrong way just by saying hello. The second was described by someone else as the kind who could tell you that you were full of it and you'd smile and ask for more. Guess which one was successful.

Do you have any advice for those who are looking to launch a career in your field?
First, it is a great field. I've been working in it for just over 28 years and have never wanted anything else. But the real grab is that I don't think there is any other career where you learn as much about the company. Each audit is about learning another facet, and with each learning experience you become that much more of an expert. In the right companies that means audit is a hotbed of potential management talent. And, even in the wrong companies—the ones that may not see auditors as potential leaders—there is enough visibility that you can get them to realize you're a leader even though you are in auditing.