OPA internship program off to a good start

On the number and quality of inquiries and actual applications alone, the first days of internship program of the Office of the Public Auditor could already be considered a success.

Public Auditor Michael Sablan said a total of more than 80 people have expressed interest in joining the OPA’s apprenticeship initiative, which was finalized last April 1.

He said that of the number, three applicants are in law school, 50 have undergone or currently undergoing graduate studies and 30 have bachelors degrees, Mr. Sablan also noted.

Approximately 85 percent of applicants are from the CNMI, either studying or working in Guam and the mainland. There were also applicants who were US residents and a few interested applicants from the Philippines as well, the Public Auditor said.

The 80 applicants can balloon further considering that official applicant figures from the Office of Personnel Management have yet to be submitted.

Mr. Sablan also presented the approved compensation package of interns entering the program. It stated that part-time intern auditor would receive a salary scale of between $15,000 to $25,000 a year depending on his or her qualifications and skills.

For full-time intern auditors, OPA’s internship program has earmarked a salary scale of between $15,000 to $30,000, also depending on the candidates qualifications and skills. Both compensation packages are of course, pro-rated.

The OPA’s internship program manual also sets minimum qualifications for the two positions. According to it, a part-time intern auditor should have at least 36 college credit house with at least nine credit hours in accounting, economics, finance, business administration or criminal justice fields.

For full-time interns, on the other hand, an applicant must have finished 96 college credit hours in the same fields enumerated above. Applicant for both part-time and full-time positions must also possess experience, as determined by the Public Auditor, in those fields, according to the OPA internship manual.

Under the Intern and Professional Development Program, the OPA is seeking to develop new residents auditors annually through an intern and professional development program.

More specifically, the OPA internship program hopes to attract and bring on board at OPA, five interns and auditors within the first year and develop and recruit additional auditors annually.

Mr. Sablan noted that for the moment, his office is initially looking to hire four full-time interns. However, OPA’s requirement might change after the Senate finally passes House Bill 12-174 or the Commonwealth Auditing Amendment Act of 2000.

Once passed, it would allow the OPA to add a complement of 16 new full-time employees to its staff. Currently, the OPA employs a total of 39 full-time staff, 29 of them accountants.