Meet Olivia & Nathan: 2021 IT Risk Advisory Interns

Q: What type of work did you do as an IT Risk Advisory Intern?

Olivia: This summer I mostly worked on different parts of multiple types of internal IT audits, including ISO, SOC 2, and IT general controls. A major project that I was able to be a part of was running multiple audits for a large private banking company. I worked closely with a fellow colleague on setting up the audits, organizing evidence, and testing the controls. I was able to sit in on multiple meetings with clients involving evidence and learn a lot about what considerations need to be made when running an audit. I would also research certain software used by the company which helped me learn more about what types of systems companies have in place and what is done to ensure compliance. I learned about how the auditing process starts when I prepared an evidence request list for a commercial email company’s audit. I performed more testing for multiple other clients such as a financial services company and digital healthcare company. This summer I also learned a lot about Workiva and how it can streamline many processes that go into audits and general data organization. I spent some time importing and organizing client data, adding to controls, sanitizing data, creating flowcharts, among other tasks within the Workiva platform. I additionally prepared user guides for some processes in Workiva that are done often by employees.‍

Nathan: A lot of my early work involved exploration and creating data flows on how large sheets and documents were tying together, so that more experienced staff could dive headfirst with some knowledge of how things were working. Besides this, I worked with Workiva and helped source where data was coming from within documents, whether those were queries or references from other parts of the document. Additionally, I have helped Clearview standardize and format their resumes so proposals would be more consistent and concise about the staff who would be working on it.

Q: What did you enjoy about your internship with Clearview?

Olivia: Immediately I fell in love with Clearview's work culture and the type of people this company attracts. I am happy to say that I have not yet met one person here that I didn't like, nor did I meet anyone that wasn't happy to help me with anything I needed. I really enjoyed the laid back, friendly nature of the office; a good example of this is many employees staying around after the in-office risk team meeting just to catch up and play pool/darts. Something else I really enjoyed was the range of different types of work I was able to be exposed to and learn about, moving around from testing controls to creating user guides to forming documentation to moving information into Workiva. I was able to see some of the types of audits that are out there and how each of them differ. I was happy to not be stuck on one project doing the same exact thing every day, and I loved the variety.

‍Nathan: I enjoyed working with new technology for which I believed in its use and utility. Coming previously from government work, the bottlenecks in technology made me pull my hair out since often stronger tools existed that could have streamlined their work but wasn’t achievable due to red tape in place with government agencies. Additionally, the juxtaposition between Clearview and government is massive. The sensation of slowly withering away in government work is pervasive and felt from the moment you walk in, to the moment you walk out. Clearview has felt lively and exciting. The people, the culture, the work; everything has kept my attention.

Q: How will your internship with Clearview help you during your remaining semesters of school as well as with your career?

Olivia: During this internship I learned to do multiple new things that I had never even heard of before. I have learned that I really enjoy working on internal IT audits, I would love to continue in this field and expand my knowledge. It is extremely helpful to apply things that I learned in class to real-world examples, such as how auditing works. My assigned mentor also helped a lot with explaining what kinds of knowledge lead to certain career paths, so I can tailor future classes and certifications around what I want to do. I now also have a better idea of what my life will look like after college once I step into the "real world" and start my career, in terms of professionalism and day-to-day work life.

‍Nathan: Clearview has inspired me to always seek out and take advantage of the newest technology available and to not compulsively rely on the default paths to a solution. I think this concept will be important to me as I advance in my graduate career and look towards research.

Q: What made your internship experience better than you anticipated?

Olivia: One thing that I was very worried about was having a fully remote internship where I never really got to meet anyone face-to-face. Most of our lives were spent inside for a year and a half, and I was worried it would continue that way throughout the summer. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lockdown was lifted, and I was able to work with a more hybrid approach and collaborate with people face-to-face. Another thing that made the experience better was being able to work a bit with fellow interns on some projects. Especially with having different college majors, it was nice to see how we were able to brainstorm together and combine ideas to solve problems.

‍Nathan: The people, the culture, and sometimes the work were better than I expected. This isn’t to say I had low expectations of these by any means, rather they exceeded my expectations. The work I did do was always interesting and stimulating. It always felt like I was genuinely contributing, and not doing make-copies-of-this-for-me-esque busy work.If you are interested in being considered for a future summer internship, get started here.