Interview Essentials for

Internal Auditors
 Table of Contents
INTERVIEW ESSENTIALS GUIDE: SAMPLE 1 ........................................................................................................2
INTERVIEW ESSENTIALS GUIDE: SAMPLE 2 ........................................................................................................6

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 INTERVIEW ESSENTIALS GUIDE: SAMPLE 1

DEFINITION OF A TRADITIONAL INTERVIEW

• A simple question-and-answer approach is used.

• Opportunities are not provided to understand the interviewee’s frame of reference.
• Focus is not on establishing trust.

Interviewing is a critical skill. Participants will spend a great deal of time planning for and conducting interviews.

DEFINITION OF A DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW

• Dialogue or conversation occurs rather than a question-and-answer session.

• Questioning techniques are applied that encourage the interviewee to elaborate on information points, allowing
analysis beneath the surface.
• Opportunity is provided to better understand the interviewee’s frame of reference.

DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEWING

Internal auditors use diagnostic interviewing to:

• Understand the client’s business process.
• Identify risks by discovering important information that might not otherwise have been discovered.
• Obtain opinions of concerns, issues or problems within the business process.
• Communicate with a variety of personnel.

CONDUCTING THE DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW

EXPLAIN YOUR PURPOSE

• Introduce yourself.
• Provide reasons for the interview.
• Provide an estimate of the time needed.
• Provide topics to be discussed.

Example: “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me this morning to discuss how you manage the users of your IT
network services. I estimate that this meeting will last approximately 30 minutes. I am specifically interested in
learning how you change the user’s profile when a change occurs in the organizational chart and how you update
the user list when an employee leaves the company.”

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ESTABLISH TRUST
• Establish rapport. Identify shared business or personal interests to establish a common bond. Interests can
often be identified by personal belongings displayed in the office.
• Be knowledgeable. Demonstrate knowledge of and interest in your interviewee’s business.
• Respect the interviewee’s knowledge. Treat the interviewees as experts in their areas of the business.
• Avoid jargon. Try to speak in terms that would be familiar to the interviewee.

GUIDE AND CONTROL

• Manage the interview.
− Clarify what the interviewee said.
− Corroborate information previously received or stated.
− Focus the interviewee on the topic being discussed.
• Strike a balance.
− Focus on your objectives.
− Get the information you need.
− Encourage the interviewee to elaborate on their ideas and opinions.
• Exhibit skill in guiding the interview to determine the following:
− Interview course
− Interview pace
− Subject matter
− Information quality
• Summarize key points discussed.

PROBING
• Complete and accurate information is rarely given spontaneously – it has to be uncovered.
• Probing is how you get to the heart of an issue and how you identify other potential opportunities.

Listen to what people say about themselves and to words they stress. Listen to emotional as well as rational
comments. Listen to what is not being said.

Types of probing:
• Direct Probing: Direct probing is appropriate when you already have a good relationship with the interviewee.
− Ask simple, specific fact-finding questions.
− Focus on gathering information.

Examples:
• What is done? Why is it done?
• Where is it done? Why there?
• When is it done? Why then?
• Who does it? Why that person?
• How is it done? Why that way?

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 • What happens next? Why that?
• Indirect Probing: Indirect probing is appropriate when you do not have a solid relationship, the interviewee is
uncomfortable, the interviewee is known to require caution, or you are still in doubt about the correct approach.
− Ask more open-ended questions.
− Focus on building a relationship and getting to know the auditee.

END THE INTERVIEW ON TIME

• Review your notes before you leave and clarify any points about which you still have questions.
• Schedule additional time for another interview if there are topics you were not able to cover in the time allotted.
(However, if the client is willing to spend more time with you and you need it, then seize the
opportunity).
• Tell the interviewee that you will contact them if you have follow-up questions.
• Encourage the interviewee to contact you if something important occurs to him or her.
• Thank the interviewee for the time.

REFLECT AND ANALYZE

• Plan to take time immediately after the interview to reflect and analyze the conversation.
• Review notes immediately to make sure that you will be able to understand them in the future.
• Reflect on and analyze the interview to ensure that you do not forget critical information and impressions.
• Document the information you gathered.

If you move on to another task, you will lose most of the benefits of the interview conversation.

PLANNING THE INTERVIEW

• To whom will I be speaking?

• What is his/her frame of reference?
− Position in company: controller, engineer and salesperson
− Length of time with the company
− Previous experience with internal audit
• Identify general areas to explore.
• Decide specific questions to ask.
• Ensure that the technical and business aspects of the subject areas are understood.
• Review reference materials.
• Learn from experienced peers.
• Prepare an outline of topics.
• Write down specific questions.
• Conduct research.

Planning is the most important thing you can do to ensure that your interview is successful and proactive. It is as
important as actually conducting the interview.

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Interviews waste your time and your client’s time if you are unprepared. The amount of preparation time will vary
based on the subject matter to be discussed and your knowledge of the area.

SUMMARY: INTERVIEWING ESSENTIALS

• Prepare for the interview thoroughly.

• The better you guide and control the interview, the better you will recognize opportunities to probe for more
information and recognize key information.
• It is important to reflect and analyze immediately after your interview so that you can accurately capture any
thoughts, impressions, action items or points that need consideration.
• Perform thorough documentation.

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 INTERVIEW ESSENTIALS GUIDE: SAMPLE 2

A good way to begin understanding a process would be to have the interviewee do a walkthrough of the process
step by step. After the walkthrough is completed, more specific questions can be covered. Below is a list of
sample questions that may help in understanding the specifics of a process.

When interviewing to understand the process, the auditor should move from general ideas to detail using a funnel
technique. Throughout the interview, use the following questions to focus/probe:
• What is done? Why is it done? Can you eliminate it?
• Where is it done? Why is it done there? Should you combine steps?
• When is it done? Why then? Should you change the sequence?
• Who does it? Why that person? Should you change the person?
• How is it done? Why that way? Can you improve it?

ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT

• What is the mission of your department? How does this mission support the mission of the organization? How
well does your department accomplish its mission?
• What are the major activities performed within each functional area of this department?
• What products does your department produce?
• What services does your department provide?
• How has productivity changed during the past five years for this department?
• What changes have been implemented as a result of customer feedback?
• What are the policies that drive the efforts and costs of this function?
• Would changing the departments' organization structure reduce activities and costs?
• What operational rule or procedure generates the most activities in this department?
• Does your department have specific goals and objectives (e.g., service-level goals)?
What are these?
• Do you have historical performance data (statistics) with regard to these?
• If your department does not have specific service-level goals established, what might be the most appropriate
measure(s)? What range of service levels would be appropriate based on the measure(s)?
• Are your department's goals and objectives consistent with the organization's goals and objectives?
• What methods are used to develop, communicate, and implement the department's goals and objectives?
• Do you have a feel for how your services are meeting customer requirements? How do you know?
• What products or services do you believe should be evaluated in detail?
• How well do the qualifications of current personnel fulfill the requirements of each key position within the
department?
• What are the primary cost drivers (structural, policy and operational decisions) in your department?
• What changes have occurred in the staffing levels for this organization?

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• Does your function receive sufficient support from other functional areas in order to accomplish the goals and
objectives in a timely manner?
• Is the skill mix of human resources in your function appropriate?
• What additional information would enable this function to be more effective?
• Are the staffing levels in your department linked to any specific or high-level workload factors? If not, how do
you know your staffing levels are appropriate?
• Who are your department's internal and external customers?

ACTIVITIES

• What activities do you perform during a routine day? Which activities are the most difficult or complex?
• For each activity, how is the work initiated?
• What are the frequencies and durations of the activities?
• What activities do you consider the most important? Why?
• What activities that you perform would you consider the least important?
• Is there any type of formal training related to your activities? Should there be?
• Are there any activities that you perform that should either be eliminated or be the responsibility of another
person or department?
• How would you change and improve the critical activities in your area?
• Do any of your activities overlap with activities in other functions or departments? Are the overlaps necessary?
• Are any of the activities in this department considered non-value-added by your customers?
• Do you perform any activities that are not mission-supporting activities?
• How are your activities prioritized?
• Who performs your duties in your absence? Are the specific steps of your activities documented in a
policy/procedure manual?

PROCESSES

• What are the major business processes that are performed in this department?
• Which of these processes is cross-functional? What other functions are involved?
• How do your activities support these processes?
• Who are the customers (internal and external) of this process? Have you received any feedback from
customers regarding their requirements that are not being met?
• What are the key performance measures or indicators of this process? What do your customers consider to be
performance deficiencies?
• How do you rate the quality of the inputs received from other functions? How do you know?
• How much time is spent reworking or repairing the key inputs to this business process? How is this tracked?
• What process bottlenecks exist in your department?
− Preceding departments?
− Succeeding departments?

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• How do corporate reporting requirements impact the daily, weekly and monthly workloads in the department?
• Does a lack of understanding of procedures due to inadequate training result in errors that decrease
throughout and increase rework?
• How much of your time is spent on correcting errors/resolving exceptions?
• What are some typical examples of errors? What is the frequency of these errors?
• From where does your work originate? (i.e., Where are the errors caused?)
• Who do you primarily work with to resolve errors?
• What problems/issues can you identify (i.e., What problems do you encounter in your job?)
• If you could start from scratch, what three things would you do differently in your job?
• What is the root cause(s) of the majority of errors that occur in this process? Is there a process in place to
address these root causes? Are there any preventative processes in place?
• Do any quality measures exist that are treating the symptom of the problem and not the cause?
• Do inaccurate forecasts generate schedule changes and extra setups in the production department?
• What by-products or scrap is produced in this department? Can it be reused?
• What is the cost associated with the output or service? Can you estimate the cost?
• Are there any outputs that you feel are not being used by your internal or external customers?
• Does the quantity of output meet the plans and goals for the department?
• Do the current policies and procedures in this organization tend to support or hinder the execution of
processes?
• What policies or procedures would you like to change or improve?
• What business process(es) would you change or improve? How?
• What is the process for obtaining approvals and reviews?
• How much work is exception-based? (i.e., caused by an error or deficiency in the process?) How do you
know?
• Are there mechanisms in place to track errors/exceptions to identify solutions?
• Is employee training in your department’s processes adequate? Should there be more formal training? If so, of
what type?
• What major changes does the market (internal or external) require of your output?

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

• What performance measures are used in your department?

• How is performance tracked and reported in this organization?
• What trends exist in the performance of this function?
• Do current performance measures reinforce the attainment of goals as required by your customers?
• Is information on individual performance collected? How frequent? Is the information used for employee
growth, development and motivation?
• Do performance measures shape the behavior of this department in a way that is consistent with the
organizational mission and goals?
• Have performance standards been established for all business processes?

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• Do you supply input to the performance-setting process in this department?
• Does employee buy-in exist with the present standards?
• Is the achievement of performance standards linked to compensation and promotion?
• Are the standards revisited periodically to reflect changes in processes or technology?
• Is performance data collected in an automated fashion?
• How are variances to performance data reconciled within this department?

TECHNOLOGY

• How does technology currently support this process?

• How might the use of new/different technology enable process improvement?
• How often do you experience system problems?
• Does your department receive adequate MIS support?
• How old are the systems utilized in this process?
• Why can’t manual tasks be mechanized or automated?
• Are all the systems involved in this process integrated?