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Interviewing Skills for Auditors

Date(s): Mar 03, 2020
Time: 8:15AM - 4:30PM
Registration Fee: $179.00
Cancellation Date: Feb 25, 2020
Location: JOHN M. KEEL LEARNING CENTER
City: Austin
Parking Info:

Parking for SAO, Professional Development courses is in Garage B (1511 San Jacinto Blvd.). The Garage signage may read 1511 San Jacinto or Garage B. The elevator in Garage B is not reliable. If you are unable to walk the stairs, please contact the professionaldevelopment@sao.texas.gov for alternate parking arrangements. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.

A course coordinator will Email you a parking permit prior to the course start date. A permit must be displayed or you will be ticketed.


Course Description

Auditors obtain their most useful information from talking to people. Effective communication skills are required to be a successful auditor. And having solid interviewing skills will make the auditor more effective and conversations with the client less stressful.

Interviewing is part science and part art. This course will help auditors develop the interviewing skills needed to establish rapport and gather facts. Participants will learn how different communication styles impact the way messages are presented and received. It will teach participants how to effectively manage various communication styles and situations to ensure a positive experience for everyone. This interactive course will use lecture, examples, real-life case studies, and group exercises to help auditors develop interviewing and communication skills that can be immediately implemented in interviewing situations and meetings. In addition, participants will cover handling conflict and difficult situations and developing negotiating skills. This course utilizes the DiSC Assessment to evaluate participants’ communications styles.


Potential CPE Credits: 8.0
Govt Hours: This class meets 8.0 hours of the 24-hour requirement for governmental CPE under Government Auditing Standards (yellow book), in most cases.
Technical Hours: This class meets 8.0 CPE credits of technical training in compliance with Texas Admin. Code Rule 523.102.

Instruction Type: Live
Experience Level: BEGINNING
Category: Auditing

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Learn various interviewing techniques and styles

• Understand different styles of communication

• Communicate effectively with clients and stakeholders

• Becoming a skilled interviewer—developing an effective questioning and interviewing style

• Developing skills for dealing with difficult people and situations

• Tips, tools, and techniques for communication

• Active listening skills | Facilitating meetings | Negotiation Skills

 

 

This course will cover:

 

Communication Skills

• Listening | Body language | Tone and attitude

• Formal vs. informal

• Establishing rapport | Building relationships

• Understanding your audience

 

Communication Styles

• Types and styles of communication

• How style type impacts presenting and receiving messages

• Styles, behaviors, and preferences

• Identifying behaviors and working with varying behaviors

 

DiSC Assessments

• Styles of communication

• Receiving and delivering messages from/to different communication styles

 

Interviewing Preparation

• Meeting places and rooms | Scheduling | Agendas | Preparation | Formalities

• Being flexible vs. being overly flexible

 

The Interview

• Establishing rapport

• Understanding the business | Defining objectives and risks

• Language, terminology, and colloquialisms

• Dos and don’ts of interviewing | Note taking

 

Listening Skills

• Active listening

• Response skills | Repeating, paraphrasing, reflecting

 

Questions and Questioning

• Types, styles, and progression of questions

• Asking effective questions

• Using guides and questionnaires

• Questioning information vs. Questioning knowledge

 

Meetings

• Facilitating meetings | Agendas | Timing | Location

• Formalities—Length | Rescheduling | Follow-up | Timeliness

 

Negotiating

• Characteristics of a negotiation | Being prepared

• People vs. problems | Understanding positions

• Identifying alternative solutions

 

Challenges & Conflict Situations

• Difficult people and situations | Thinking on your feet

• Audit findings

 

 

 


Instructors

Mary Breslin

Mary Breslin is the Founder of Verracy Training & Consulting and specializes in Internal Audit transformations, Operational and Financial Auditing, Fraud Auditing & Investigations, and Corporate Accounting.

 

Ms. Breslin’s career spans over 20 years in Internal Auditing, Management and Accounting for companies such as ConocoPhillips, Barclays Capital, Costco Wholesale, Jefferson Wells and Boart Longyear. With significant International experience, she has managed audit programs in more than 50 countries. Most recently, Ms. Breslin held the title of Vice President and Chief Audit Executive where she transformed a checklist audit function into a value-add audit department which regularly delivered measurable business results through the use of risk-based auditing, data analytics, continuous education and skill development for her leadership team and staff.

 

Mary was an early adopter of analytics for audit and has been utilizing data analytics in her career in both audit and fraud work for over 15 years. She has transformed the capabilities of audit functions using data analytics programs using ACL, IDEA and Arbutus Analyzer. Through her expertise and guidance, she has helped large global organizations leverage analytics to significantly increase coverage, automate continuous auditing and monitoring, and actively fight fraud.

 

Additionally, Ms. Breslin has extensive Fraud Audit and Investigation experience and has conducted major fraud investigations on multiple continents including large scale federal cases domestically. She has developed and implemented fraud auditing programs in various industries focused on both accounting and operations.

 

Ms. Breslin attended Rutgers University and received her BS in accounting, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix while living and working overseas. She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She maintains memberships in the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), ISACA, the Society of Corporate Compliance (SCCE), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and is currently an instructor and conference speaker for the IIA, The ACFE and ISACA.


Additional Information

TAC Rule 523.142(g) requires the CPE Sponsor to monitor individual attendance and assign the correct number of CPE credits. Participants will be asked to document their time of arrival and departure in compliance with this Rule. Additionally, attendance will be monitored throughout the day and CPE certificates will reflect actual attendance of each participant.

If you are making travel plans to come to Austin, we recommend making "refundable" air and hotel reservations or waiting until 14 days before the class to actually book your reservations. Courses are occasionally canceled or rescheduled due to low enrollment. We determine whether a course has enough participants 16 days prior to the course date. If we cancel or reschedule, we will email the participant and his or her billing contact no later than 14 days before the original class date.

The course coordinator will contact you with parking information. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.

Vending machines with Coca-Cola products and various snack items are available. There is also a refrigerator and microwave in our coffee bar area. Feel free to bring in your own drinks and food if you prefer.

You might want to bring a light sweater or jacket, as room temperatures vary.

To see answers to our Frequently Asked Questions, visit http://www.sao.texas.gov/training/faq.html.