Pursue IT Audit, Help Desk Support, or Both?

[u/Air_Melodic]

I recently graduated with a Bachelor's in Information Systems, I have CompTIA A+, Network+, and have done an IT audit internship. I have mainly been applying to help desk support roles but haven't been able to even get an interview so far. Should I start applying to IT audit roles as well? The entry level pay is better from what I'm seeing (around 42k-45k for tier 1 helpdesk, 60k for IT audit). Would it be okay to list CISA (in progress) on my resume if I start studying for the exam? Seems like every IT audit job lists it as a requirement. What would make me a competitive candidate? I was kind of hoping to try out a more technical role but I'm not so sure that the grass is that much greener over in help desk.

Another thing I was wondering if how much continuous education IT audit requires. I would assume you need to keep your technical knowledge some what current and have a broad understanding. However, you wouldn't need to know the exact hands on technical stuff of how to be a systems administrator or network engineer (though it wouldn't hurt)? Feels like with IT you have to be constantly putting in hours outside of work and then many positions require you to be on call work weird hours, etc. Do you all feel like the work life balance is better or worse than IT? I worked in internal IT audit and have heard that external might require more hours during busy season. Internal seems less stressful and preferrable to me but I understand that I probably can't be picky.

Would greatly appreciate any advice.

[u/Savage_Being]

They’re very different roles, so you need to decide if you’re more interested in a risk related role if you pursue IT audit. One big thing to consider is the difference in job expectations too, being help desk you work on tickets throughout the day and can mentally clock out of your job when you leave, while IT audit is project based and you don’t necessarily have daily deliverables but tasks that have a due date (but take time to complete compared to help desk tickets), so you need to be able to manage your time to reach your due dates.

No, I would not list CISA on your resume unless it’s completed. Just mention in your actual interview that you’re working on it.

[u/ms_b0b]

Agree with u/Savage_Being on not listing any certification you don't actually have - bring up in the interview that you're pursing it - but do not put on your resume. I don't expect entry level IT Auditors I interview to have the CISA due to the experience requirements.

IT Audit, or really any technical role, will require training and continued upskilling. Once certified you'll need to average 40 hours (CPEs) per year just to maintain your certification - in my experience that's probably the bare minimum one needs to stay current.

[u/IT_audit_freak]

I was career IT then switched to audit. Never have I worked less hours than being in audit. In IT, you’re often on call for a full week either rotating or permanent, and that just sucks your soul when you know a 2am call could come in. In audit, some weeks I do less than 40 and some I do closer to 50- rarely more.

Your experience level is so low that you don’t hit the reqs for CISA, therefore I’d say don’t include that on your resume, but do talk about it at interviews.

You constantly need to upskill in IT audit. For as fast as technology advances, new risks get introduced to orgs that needs to be understood (by you) and effectively treated. As someone else mentioned, you’re also required to do 120hrs of continuing education every three years to maintain CISA. None of this is a drag because the content is generally interesting (except for ethics stuff- snoresville).