Finding the Missing Piece: Can You Love Your Job and Your Industry?

It’s one thing to do what you love, but it’s another to do it in the industry you love. A chef can be passionate about Italian food, but make a living at a Mexican restaurant. An engineer who dreams of designing rocket ships might make do with building bridges. Can you be happy and fulfilled in this kind of situation? Sure, but there will always be that missing piece.

Getting the perfect job isn’t easy. It’s partially luck and being in the right place at the right time. But there’s another element that will dramatically increase your chances: building a career in a high-demand profession. Take internal auditing, for example.

A Role in High Demand

The demand for internal auditors is so great across the business landscape because they provide insight and assurance to every facet of the organization, including operations, legal, IT, and human resources — not to mention the board of directors. This makes them incredibly valuable, and organizations don’t see candidates with the skills needed to occupy such a critical role every day. So, when it comes time to enter the job market, it’s going to be the internal auditor who will have the leverage in salary negotiations.

And, internal auditing offers more than just a profession you can love — it offers the means to work in an industry you love. This is exactly what Melissa Polak did. Today, she is the vice president of Compliance, Risk, and Assurance at Aurora Cannabis, one of the largest licensed cannabis producers in Canada. She loves what she does, but what makes her role special is that she does what she loves on behalf of a cause she believes in.

“The cannabis industry really aligned with my personal values, such as not believing in the criminalization of petty possession,” she says. “When I was thinking about if this was the right role for me, it was an easy question to answer. It’s always much easier to have a conversation with yourself about the direction of your career when you really believe in the cause or purpose of the organization.”

In fact, Polak was lucky enough to have two job opportunities — both in areas she is passionate about. The other position was for an organization specializing in public housing — something she knows extremely well. “I actually grew up in public housing,” she says. “I know the personal benefits of having infrastructure support for individuals, particularly children.”

Always a Place to Go

While making a job choice like this is never easy, the fluidity of the internal auditor’s skillset means there is always an equally rewarding position waiting in the wings. And this means internal auditors can take some professional risks that others can’t.

In Polak’s case, for example, she made her choice to enter the cannabis industry because it was new, challenging, and cutting-edge. For some people, entering into such a volatile, budding industry would be considered a risk. For her, it was an opportunity she could grasp with both hands.

“There is always going to be another field that aligns with your values,” Polak explains, “So when I was presented with an opportunity to work for something that was truly game-changing, I told myself I would just take it if I could.”

Ready to Make a Difference?

There are so many reasons to be a part of this rapidly expanding profession: career growth prospects, financial security, and an ideal work/life balance, to name a few. But the opportunity to put the skills of your profession to work in an industry you believe in? That’s pretty rare. For an internal auditor, however, it’s just another perk of the job.

Additional Resources

For more information about what makes an internal auditor so valuable, check out: “Internal Auditing: Is It For You?”

Member-exclusive access: Read “Blazing New Business Trails” to learn about emerging industries and how internal auditors can play a crucial role in establishing internal audit functions from the ground up.

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