How Do I Become an Auditor?
Auditing is a great profession; travel, run your own business, high level of self-esteem and the opportunity to get to know other people’s business – a colleague recently called it being a professional nosey parker!
So how do you become an Auditor?
Well, it’s far simpler than you may think and importantly an easily accessible jump from many other careers.
We should start by agreeing ‘what we mean by an ‘Auditor’’. A career in Auditing would need an Auditor to be 3rd party or ‘Certification’ qualified. With this qualification you can work for a Certification Body as a full time Auditor or increasingly popular these days work as a sole trader/limited company and provide subcontract Audit services.
Next, we need to consider your background and experience and decide what discipline you are best equipped to audit in. ISO 9001, is the most commonly used Management System in the world and so the opportunities for auditing are far greater than for many other specialist Standards. Quality Management is also a pretty generic discipline, equally applicable to many industrial and commercial sectors.
Have you got experience of working with Management Systems? If the answer is yes then progression to becoming an Auditor is a small step away. If the answer is no, this career is not closed you at all, only the route may not be quite so direct.
Quality, Healthy & Safety, Environment, Food Safety and many other disciplines are available; choose which is best for you to get you started. Consider your academic achievements, past work experiences and your future aspirations at this point and get advice as this decision is important.
So as an example; you’ve H&S work experience in the food sector and you’ve decided to become an ISO 45001 H&S Auditor. You need to find an ISO 45001 Lead Auditor training course, ideally CQI and IRCA accredited to maximise your future career opportunities. There are many training providers and over recent years the programme has been delivered remotely as well as face to face so accessibility has never been greater.
Regardless of the discipline, Lead Auditor training courses consist of 5 challenging but enjoyable days of interactive learning requiring your full concentration. The course concludes with a 2-hour exam on the final day so don’t expect to multi-task during the week! However tutors teaching this course are devoted to their students’ success and whether face to face or virtual will help each and every student through the course.
By Friday afternoon, with a fair wind, you’ll be exhausted but one step closer to being qualified to go out and conduct professional audits with great earning potential.
You’ve successfully completed your course, you’ll now need to get some auditing experience and practice your newly learnt skills by conducting audits. If you are already employed then ask to be involved in conducting audits within your own company. Or you can use your own network and volunteer your auditing services to other organisations. A third option is to apply to a consultancy/certification body as an Auditor in training.
As a qualified and experienced Auditor, you will have opened the door to a rewarding and highly enjoyable career. Contact us here for an informal chat with our experts and start planning your new future today.
If you’d like to keep up to date with topical information and debate within the sector please visit the iqms Learning blog page at https://iqmslearning.co.uk/blog or follow us on linked in https://www.linkedin.com/company/iqms-learning-ltd/?viewAsMember=true.