Harry Markopolos, CFE, CFA, now famous for his recent testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Subcommittee on Central Markets about the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, offered the following tips in an interview for the ACFE's May/June 2009 issue of FRAUD Magazine:
Join your local ACFE chapter and attend meetings regularly. Collect fellow members' business cards, and ask about their expertise. Then when you run into what seems like an unsolvable problem, use your Rolodex to reach out and ask for advice. Build a world-class fraud library, one book at a time. The ACFE bookstore and Amazon.com carry a large number of anti-fraud titles that you should be reading as part of your continuing education program. Develop an expertise in a fraud examination specialty to make yourself more valuable. Pick a specialty that's your passion, and master it. Find a mentor who can guide you in making career decisions and teach you the finer points of fraud examination. Follow the one-third rule: for every hour you spend working, spend a third of that time engaged in continuing educational activities or social networking.
Networking pays off more than one way these days. Networking should be using the tools not only to promote yourself, but to really listen to others, and remember what they have to offer. So when problems like these arise, we are able to ask our good friends.
Posted by: KJ Rodgers | May 12, 2009 at 10:57 AM
I'm very interested in breaking into forensic accounting. My firm currently doesn't provide forensic services and I'm just obtaining my CPA now. This article really helps me understand ways to get involved and turn my interest into something more concrete.
Posted by: twitter.com/ShanaKneib | September 17, 2009 at 10:52 AM
I'm very interested in forensic accounting and this offers some great advice on breaking into the field.
Posted by: Shana Kneib | September 17, 2009 at 10:58 AM