I’m Christian Muegge, Principal Consultant in the Bristol office. I joined RSM in July 2023 through RSM’s Project Reactivate programme. But if you'd told me five years ago that I’d be working in professional services, I'd have told you that wasn't for me. I'm not an accountant; I didn't even pass my GCSE maths. I spent the best part of two decades in retail management, and I was good at it. But on Boxing Day 2022, at 5am getting ready to drive to work, while my eldest asked me why I had to go – that was the moment I knew something had to change.

How I joined RSM’s internal audit team without an accounting background

After nearly two decades in luxury retail management, I was introduced to RSM through one of my best clients in my retail role, an Audit Partner who happened to work at the firm. In early 2023, he came into the showroom and mentioned Project Reactivate, a programme designed to bring people from non-traditional career backgrounds into internal audit. He put me in touch with an Internal Audit Partner in Bristol, just to have an introductory chat. After a great conversation, I submitted my CV and within five weeks, my notice was in.

Why retail prepared me better than I thought

I won't pretend that transitioning into a new industry, way of working and organisation was always easy. Suddenly I was sat at a desk, with tools I'd never used, in a role I didn't fully understand yet. But it all soon began to click.

One key skill I brought from my retail roles, and which Project Reactivate taps into so well, is the ability to connect with people. I will quite happily talk to anyone about anything. I'm genuinely interested in who people are, not just their job title. That sounds simple, but it works. My years of customer service experience prior to joining RSM built a vital foundation for the daily client relationship management I experience in my role now.

What surprised me most about a career in internal audit

One of the things that really struck me about internal audit that I genuinely didn't expect is the impact the work itself has. We get access to the inner workings of organisations that most people never see. And when we find something, and the client acts on it, you see real change happen. I've seen a FTSE 250 company with a $1bn turnover change its entire business model as a result of a single internal audit. That's real impact.

No two days are the same. I manage client accounts, supervise audits, write tenders, mentor new starters and lead on AI integration work within the team. We've also recently won our first transatlantic client through our new partnership with RSM US. The scope of what this firm is doing right now is genuinely exciting.

Looking ahead: a changing, exciting future

Internal audit is evolving quickly, especially with AI. We’re already using it to work smarter, analyse more data and deliver deeper insights. But it won’t replace what we do.

At the end of the day, clients come to us for our judgement – our ability to interpret, challenge and explain what something means. That human element isn’t going anywhere. If anything, the role is becoming more interesting, not less.

Advice for changing career into internal audit at RSM

Careers aren’t always linear and whatever your next move might be, my advice is straightforward: bring your whole self. Bring your curiosity, bring your personality and be willing to learn something new every single day.

Nobody expects you to be the finished article. What makes people stand out is the willingness to go in open-minded, ask good questions and think their way around complex problems, because ultimately, this job is about people.

The perspective people bring from their different careers is something this firm genuinely values, and it's something you simply can't replicate any other way.

Make an impact, be our future.