Chief Audit Executive - Sample Candidate Interview Questions

Interviewer Notes

1. What do you consider to be internal audit’s role within the organization?

2. What do you see as the biggest challenges for an internal audit team in the short run (3 to 6 months), medium term (6 to12 months) and over the next 2 to3 years?

3. What experience do you have in the NPO sector, and how do you plan to keep abreast of the significant developments relevant to internal audit in the NPO sector?

4. If applicable, what is your experience in addressing different business practices in different countries?

5. Have you ever been offered a gratuity or a payment that could be construed as a bribe? What were the circumstances, and how did you handle the situation?

6. Have you worked with audit committees in the past? What processes have you put in place to keep the audit committee fully and appropriately informed? In the course of a year, what is the typical number of meetings/communications between the CAE and the audit committee (chair)?

7. Give some examples of situations you have faced that required special meetings with the audit committee in executive session as a result of disagreements with management. How were these situations resolved with management? Have there been situations in which management has tried to squash your recommendations or discredit your findings, and how did you respond to this? In retrospect, would you now handle these situations differently?

8. Have you worked with the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Internal Control Framework? How has the framework influenced your process in evaluating the adequacy of internal controls? How is this framework used to design your internal audits?

9. In previous organizations at which you were employed, what type of technology platform was used? Have you been involved in a technology system implementation? What role did you play in the process and how did you make sure that the proper controls were in place when the system went live?

10. Have you used technology in conducting internal audits, and how has it enhanced your conduct of the internal audit? How would you recognize a problem that might exist either in the internal audit data or in the organizations records? What would you do about it?

11. Do you use a formal project planning process that is applied consistently for all internal audits? If so, what benefits have you derived in meeting your teams goals and objectives? What is your average report cycle time from the end of fieldwork?

12. Have you ever conducted a formal risk assessment and, if so, how have you incorporated it into setting up an audit plan?

13. What role does the organizations strategic and technology plans play in the development of an audit plan?

14. Have you gone out to subsidiaries or affiliate locations to ensure that they have significant input into audit objectives and scopes? How is this achieved? How have you resolved differences of opinion in this area without compromising the goals you have established for an audit?

15. What role have you played in assisting subsidiary or affiliate locations in implementation of recommendations?

16. When you or your team conducts an internal audit, do you have a service orientation to your audit process? Do you work to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the operations and controls in each audit area? How would you make your recommendations to management? What process would you use to resolve differences of opinion?

17. Would you use a process for conducting a customer satisfaction survey after an internal audit is completed? How would you integrate this feedback into future audits?

18. How would you ensure that the personnel in internal audit have the necessary skills to ensure an adequate understanding of the organizations accounting and other business practices?

19. How many people have you managed, either as direct reports or within an organization that you might have overseen? How would you describe your management style?

20. Have you ever participated in a 360-degree assessment process?

(A 360-degree evaluation is one that obtains anonymous feedback from a group of individuals representing various perspectives.)

If so, what did you learn about yourself that surprised you? How did the results of the assessment change your behavior?

Other Notes and Questions:

1. If applicable, has your internal audit department ever been through a Yellow Book peer review? What were the results of that review?