As an internal auditor, you can enhance your career in a variety of ways. The most fulfilling way is to earn the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification. The CIA certification rewards you with increased job opportunities, better earning potential, and more, so it’s clearly a great choice. Another way to enhance your career (one that doesn’t require you to take an exam) is to find a CIA mentor. We’ll reveal the top six benefits of having a CIA mentor so you have even more ways to reach your career goals.
Benefits of Having a CIA Mentor
Your CIA mentor can equip you to do the following:
- Master your job
Finding a CIA mentor who is further along in your industry can provide valuable insight into your current job. A mentor can share the lessons they’ve learned from their own experiences in your position, and you can use their successes (and mistakes) as motivation to improve faster, distinguishing yourself from your peers. If your CIA mentor works within your company, (s)he can even supply effective on-the-job training. - Increase your skills
Coaching is a recent addition to the accounting industry’s expectations for mentors. As a coach, your CIA mentor is responsible for empowering you to strengthen your skills. (S)he can come alongside you as you complete assignments and, in the process, give you targeted input on your choices and performance. Collaborating with an invested superior allows you to learn the ins and outs of your position more efficiently. Within the scope of his or her coaching, your CIA mentor should address your interpersonal and leadership skills in addition to your technical skills as an internal auditor. In this way, you can receive the advice you need to take you to the top. - Understand your company
If you are so fortunate as to find a CIA mentor working within the same company (or even the same department) as you, you’ll be able to deepen your company knowledge. By gleaning your CIA mentor’s perspective, you can reach a greater understanding of your company’s history, mission, values, and processes. Getting used to company culture takes time, but a mentor can help you to fit in immediately. Everyone, management especially, loves a team player. With this attitude, you’ll become a prized employee, and your relationship with your mentor will foster a more effective company culture. - Prepare for your future
With your CIA mentor by your side, you can visualize a clear path to your next promotion. Your CIA mentor can provide the direction you need by laying out benchmarks and helping you plot out each step on your career path. If you want to move toward a particular specialty within the audit or accounting field or make a career shift, (s)he may be able to help you craft your resume accordingly. - Discover the CIA certification
Your CIA mentor will be an expert on many things, but one distinct area of their expertise you must tap into is CIA certification. As you learn more about your mentor’s responsibilities, you can experience a firsthand look into the life of a CIA. When you ask about your mentor’s career history, you can pinpoint all the places the CIA certification can take you in your journey and help you within your role as an auditor. And by spending so much time with a CIA, you can see just how much you’ll have to look forward to once you pass the CIA exam. - Prepare for the CIA exam
Depending on how long ago your mentor passed the CIA exam, (s)he might be able to share some excellent tips, including study and scheduling advice, that will help you determine what to do (and not do) on your CIA exam journey. Even if your CIA mentor was certified a while ago, (s)he can still recommend a CIA review course, some basic study tips, or a timeline for passing.
Defining a CIA Mentor
Who should your CIA mentor be? Ideally, your mentor will be a leader in the profession who is wiser, more experienced, and better connected than you. But the single most important thing your CIA mentor should be is someone you respect. A mentor-mentee relationship takes a great deal of work from both parties to maintain, and mutual respect is necessary for it to get off the ground. If you don’t enjoy conversation with a potential mentor, you’re definitely not going to like being advised by this individual.
Finding a CIA Mentor
Oftentimes, mentors can be found organically. Accountants with similar duties generally operate within the same sphere, so in these circles it’s a matter of introducing yourself and getting to know the people around you. Even if it doesn’t yield a mentor, it’s a good way to acquaint yourself and establish a working relationship with your peers.
Larger companies often have robust mentorship programs in place. They vary from organization to organization, so check and see what resources are available to you. You may need to attend some after-work meetings or you may be asked to apply to a program, but any involvment will be time well spent.
The Way to Become a CIA
Having a CIA mentor will benefit your career in many intangible ways and can even give you the edge you need to work your way up the ladder. But earning the CIA certification is all but guaranteed to increase your job opportunities and lead to a higher salary.
To secure the CIA designation, you must pass the CIA exam, and you can get help from your very own exam mentor: a Gleim Personal Counselor. When you study with Gleim CIA Review, you can enjoy access to a Personal Counselor who will serve as your exam coach, guide, and cheerleader. Additionally, you can direct any auditing questions you have to our accounting experts from within our review course.
With our unparalleled support, we’ve helped more CIA candidates pass than any other provider. In fact, it’s statistically likely your CIA mentor studied with Gleim CIA to pass their exam! Gleim CIA Review is the first and most widely-used review course, and it has everything you need to achieve exam success. We’re so committed to helping you earn the CIA that we created this free CIA exam guide. Access it today!
