Patterns

Auditors can come from all types of disciplines. What you bring from one organizational experience can help you understand another organization or service. One of my most "ah-ha" moments was when I was being interviewed for my first auditor position. I was given a chart that showed information about a parking structure. It illustrated parking patterns of long term versus short term parkers. I was asked what kind of questions I would ask if I was going to study the usage. I looked at the pattern of the data and realized it was the same kind of pattern and dilemma that I had studied from my current organizational experience. I was working as an analyst for a public safety coordinating body. A question the criminal justice system always faces is how to manage jail population effectively when some offenders come in for short periods and others stay for months. I don't know if that is why I was hired, but my first response in that interview was "This is just like jails!"