“IA is freakin’ awesome”

Ms Musa, an employee of Mercantile Bank presenting to students

Dieketseng Motsepe

The Vaal University of Technology (VUT), in collaboration with Mercantile Bank, held an Internal Auditor Student Day presentation at Quest Conference Estate.

Employees at the bank, which is valued at over R3bn and has more than 10 000 clients, gave future internal auditors of VUT a view into the career path they have chosen; what it entails and the challenges that come with it.

The CEO, Mr Karl Kumbier, could not be present but he sent a video giving a bit of insight into the bank and what they do and what he has experienced since taking over in 2013. He shared that internal auditing helps find efficiency within the operation of the bank and an Internal Auditor can work in different areas in a bank. With students, he shared a few tips, such as to work hard, do more than the next person, dream bigger, set big goals and, lastly, to keep studying part-time even while working.

Ms Musa, an employee of Mercantile Bank, explained to the students that they are servants and are there to serve people. As Internal Auditors, they get to know who the people are and learn all the corners of the business. The foundation behind IA teaches ethics and conducting yourself professionally through any and every situation. Being part of the IA world comes with its own challenges and auditors are not always popular. They need to be open-minded with the expectation that anything can happen at any given time.

Ms Joy also stepped up to motivate the students to always be unique, confident, and authentic, to grab opportunities with both hands, always be up to date, to get up and go after what they want and to work hard for success.

The presentation was hailed a great success as it gave students a view on what to expect and how to conduct themselves once they get to the professional world.

“Every career has its challenges and obstacles that will be faced at some point or the other; the point is to channel one’s mind to be positive for positive outcomes and to remember that if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”, said Ms Joy