A Little Career Advice Can Go a Long Way

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“The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.”  – Oscar Wilde

One of the ACFE’s New Year’s resolutions is to continue to add valuable and useful content in the newly renovated Career Center on ACFE.com. Even as career paths wind up and down, left and right, through peaks and valleys, there are some things that remain constant. No matter at what stage you are, there are still challenges, questions and obstacles that arise. For these questions and challenges, we have enlisted five experts to give you the advice, candor and reassurance you need to succeed in your field.

MEET OUR EXPERTS:

Just Starting Out: Learn from HR manager LaDonna Wernli, CFE, PHR, CBP, how a little bit of advice can go a long way when you are just beginning your career.

Making a Career Change: From salary expectations to getting the right education, find out from Allan Bachman, CFE, ACFE Education Manager, how to make a successful career transition.

Newly Self-Employed: Know what to expect and how to deal with the unexpected when striking out on your own and starting your own business from Tiffany Couch, CFE, CPE/CFF, Principal of Acuity Group PLLC.

Take Me to the Next Level: Educate yourself on the best ways to increase your value as an employee from J .T. Kirk, Author, Consultant.

Help Me Leave a Legacy: Identify qualities you want to pass on and learn how being a mentor can benefit an entire company from James D. Ratley, CFE, ACFE President.

To ask a question or read more about the ACFE Career Experts, go here.

Liability Specialist Finds New Career, Opportunities in Anti-Fraud Field

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CAREER PROFILE

Rich Kelly, CFE
Senior Partner, Predegate LLC
Utica, N.Y. 

Rich Kelly, CFE, was working as a liability specialist for a mid-size insurance company when he decided to take a different path in his professional life. He went back to college in 2000 to earn his master's degree, and this ultimately led him to a new career in fighting fraud.

Kelly earned his M.S. in Economic Crime Management at Utica College and then joined their faculty in 2006, where he currently serves in the following roles: Economic Crime and Justice Studies internship coordinator and assistant professor of Economic Crime Investigation.

Kelly knew that earning the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential would be a worthwhile investment in his new career. "Working as an educator in a fraud-related field, it didn't take me long to realize that the CFE credential is the biggest and most sought after designation in the fraud fighting industry," Kelly said. "I felt that if I were to recommend the CFE credential to my students to make them more knowledgeable and marketable down the road that I should also lead by example."

While serving as one of the faculty advisors for the ACFE Student Chapter at Utica College and also a member of the Upstate New York Chapter in Syracuse, Kelly received a summer fellowship to attend the CFE Exam Review Course in 2008 and earned his CFE credential that December. "I finally pushed myself to attend the CFE Exam Review Course and complete the CFE Exam," Kelly said. "Personally and professionally it has been one of the best moves I've ever made."

Becoming a CFE also gave him the knowledge and confidence to provide professional fraud consulting through a firm called Predegate LLC, established by Kelly and two partners. Predegate LLC gives Kelly the opportunity to work with local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals to provide fraud awareness training and develop customized solutions to mitigate fraud risks and threats.

"Our strengths definitely lie in our training abilities," Kelly said, noting that the threesome offer fraud prevention seminars on topics such as identity theft and red flags of fraud. "We're also in the process of developing customized data-driven tools which analyze complex transaction flows, detect unusual data patterns, and identify suspect transactions and accounts."

Looking back, Kelly knows he made the right choice in taking a different path 10 years ago. It's led to a rewarding anti-fraud career with many new challenges and opportunities ahead.

Read more career profiles at the ACFE's new Career Center.

New Year's Resolution: ACFE Launches New Career Center on Website

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#4: LAUNCH A NEW CAREER CENTER ON ACFE.COM

When our members speak, the ACFE listens and responds. Over the past few months, we noticed our members and those interested in a career in fraud prevention asking for assistance and advice on topics like how to make smooth career changes, how to move up the corporate ladder and the best ways to begin a business. Through member e-mails and phone calls, and active social media discussion forums like the ACFE’s LinkedIn group, many people were looking for someone on a similar path to network with, bounce ideas off of and share their experiences with.

THE ACFE CAREER CENTER

Seeing this need and interest, we decided to form a team of ACFE staff strictly devoted to enhancing the Career Center of ACFE.com this year. We compiled online resources and reached out to experts in the fields of fraud-fighting, career development, human resources and self-employment, just to name a few, to provide you with the tools you need to get the most out of your career. Whether you are Just Starting Out, Making a Career Change, Newly Self-Employed, Anxious to Get to the Next Level or Leaving Your Legacy, we hope you find the new Career Center valuable.

The ACFE Career Center includes the following new features:

  • Resources: read checklists, articles, blogs and publications unique to your career path
  • CFE Profiles: view candid interviews with CFEs who have walked in your shoes
  • Expert Q&As: gain insight from five hiring and career experts 
  • Career Paths: find out where you are on your career path

This blog post marks the initial roll out of this section of our website, so stay tuned and check back often because we have a lot more planned for 2011.

Have suggestions? Let us know in the “Comments” section.