An internal auditor interviews for a position within the organization’s IT department while simultaneously conducting...

The situation creates an actual or perceived impairment to the internal auditor’s objectivity. By interviewing for a position in the same IT department being audited, the auditor has a personal professional interest that could influence, or appear to influence, judgments made during the engagement. For example, the auditor might consciously or unconsciously avoid reporting unfavorable findings to improve employment prospects within the department. The Global Internal Audit Standards require internal auditors to recognize, avoid, or mitigate actual, potential, and perceived impairments to objectivity and to disclose relevant conflicts of interest. The issue is not primarily confidentiality, competency, or integrity; rather, it concerns whether the auditor can maintain an unbiased mental attitude while simultaneously pursuing employment with the activity under review. Therefore, the principle most directly affected is objectivity.