What A Director Of Internal Audit At Nasdaq Wishes They Had Known Before Entering The Financial Services Industry
Jenna, a Director of Internal Audit at Nasdaq, emphasizes the crucial, often unsaid, aspect of proactively taking ownership, advising that "shifting your mindset to not just...doing this one task" but instead considering the broader implications and how to improve processes is key. This proactive approach, encompassing anticipating the needs of superiors and streamlining workflows, is presented as essential for career advancement.
Proactive Ownership, Big-Picture Thinking, Process Improvement, Leadership Anticipation, Strategic Mindset
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Jenna Heffler Beth
Director, Internal Audit
Nasdaq Inc
Penn State University, 2014
N/A
Finance
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Finance
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Proactive approach and ownership are crucial in internal audit.
2. Consider the bigger picture; how your tasks contribute to the overall goals and impact your manager and their manager.
3. Think like an owner and identify ways to improve processes and make others' jobs easier.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone would have told you before you entered the industry?
I would say the importance of being proactive and taking ownership over your role. It's important to do the job in front of you; that's step one.
We all know step two is going above what's expected of you and taking that next step forward. That kind of involves shifting your mindset to not just, "I'm just doing this one task."
It's thinking about how that task fits into the bigger picture, how the end product is going to be used by your manager, and what you can do to improve the process. I'm always pushing myself to think about what's next. What does my manager care about? What does their manager care about? And how can I make their jobs easier by thinking like an owner?