I have worked for Audit Scotland for some time but it has offered me a lot of variety. When I joined the organisation it was as a trainee financial auditor and my interest was in finance. After doing my professional accountancy exams, I worked in our Technical Services Unit providing accounting and audit advice to auditors. I changed job to work on our national study reports and am now working on Best Value audits in councils and police forces. Working for Audit Scotland has provided me with far wider opportunities to develop my interests than I ever expected.
The most interesting thing about my job is the interaction with a wide variety of other people. This ranges from drawing on the expertise of colleagues throughout the organisation in particular areas (e.g. financial audit), colleagues in other audit and inspection agencies and other professional organisations, interviewing officers and councillors in local authorities and also responding to questions and concerns from the general public.
One of the key projects I have enjoyed worked on was the Joint Best Value work with the Scottish police authorities and (HMICS) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland. All HMICS colleagues are serving senior police officers on secondment from their forces. They have held a variety of posts within their forces and have vast knowledge of the operational side of policing. Working together allows us to gain a great deal of knowledge and share our audit expertise with them. There is professional respect on both sides and the work has benefited from this joint approach.