What is a witness audit? A deep dive into the qualifications and training of DQS auditors

Selection and Training

There are two types of DQS auditor candidates: active candidates and passive candidates. Active candidates are individuals who apply to a position that we post on our website or on LinkedIn. They are actively seeking employment. Alternatively, passive candidates are the ones that DQS reaches out to based on industry experience or auditor credentials that are in demand.

Each candidate of potential interest will go through two screenings to determine if they are the right fit for DQS and the open position. The first screening is an interview with the recruitment manager. She will go over qualifications and ensure that the candidate’s background aligns with our goals and expectations. They will also be asked questions that specifically relate to the sector of the auditing position, for example food, manufacturing, medical, etc. Most importantly, she will confirm they meet prerequisites like having an accredited lead auditor certificate, prior audit experience, and ideally 3-5 years of specific industry experience related to the sector in which they will audit. Some standards also have additional qualifications for auditors such as requiring an exam or certificate. Another important part of the screening process is ensuring that the candidate understands the length of training they may have to go through. Depending on their level of experience, the process may require them to invest a significant amount of time into training. It is very important to clarify this upfront so there is no time wasted for the candidate or the hiring manager.

On top of our general auditing qualifications, it is very important that the auditor candidate has the necessary industry experience and expertise for the role in which they are applying. This creates a strong sense of trust and rapport with our customers knowing that their auditor has specific knowledge that applies to their company’s industry. Additionally, auditors with extensive industry experience can provide significant value by answering questions and identifying potential areas of improvement.

Training and Witness Audits

Newly hired auditors will go through an onboarding process to familiarize themselves with DQS and get up to speed with our processes. They will also go through a series of seven virtual trainings and online modules before they can be appointed as an official DQS auditor. Once an auditor has completed our onboarding process, they will go through the next phase of training.

What happens next will depend on the auditor’s level of experience. If the candidate is already a certified third-party auditor, they may only need to complete a witness audit. For those who are relatively new to management system auditing, they will start by observing an audit performed by one of our Lead Auditors. Depending on how much training they need, new auditors can be required to complete anywhere from one to twenty or more audit days. As they progress through the training days, the Lead Auditor will allow them to slowly take on more of the responsibilities of leading the audit. This way, the Lead Auditor can understand their level of experience, identify any gaps where they may require additional training, and provide coaching to hone their audit skills and standards application knowledge. The final step of the training process is to perform a witness audit.

In a witness audit, the new auditor will run the entire audit process under the supervision of one of our most experienced Lead Auditors. This includes creating an audit agenda, conducting opening and closing meetings, interviewing employees, and writing a detailed audit report in our Audit Manager system. This acts as a final test so that our Lead Auditors can ensure that our new auditor has demonstrated the necessary competencies to complete an entire audit from start to finish and that they exhibit the DQS values. In either case, DQS emphasizes thorough training and hands-on experience before sending out new auditors on their own.

Since DQS is a global company, once an auditor meets all the requirements and finishes training for DQS Inc. in North America, their evidence of competency is reviewed and approved by Auditor Competency Management.  Their profile and credentials are maintained in our global database. This ensures a very extensive review process for all our auditors to assure that they will be able to provide the best possible services to our customers.

Ongoing Professional Development

Our auditors training does not stop once they get officially appointed as a DQS auditor. DQS Inc. hosts an annual company-wide auditor meeting to keep our auditors up to date on auditing techniques and client/stakeholder expectations. DQS also offers additional training for our auditors when there are industry changes or updates in standards.

One of the most important qualifications for a DQS auditor is that they are required to have specific industry experience and expertise. This ensures that they know what they are talking about and that they can provide a professional and valuable audit experience for clients. It also allows them to accurately answer questions and point out potential areas of improvement to our customers. Because we have such well-versed auditors, they can connect on a deeper level with our clients and build a solid rapport with them while ultimately providing a valuable experience.

Witness audits also enable our clients to get a look inside our thorough training process. They have the opportunity to see an auditor when they are new and starting to learn the ropes all the way up to their final witness audit to qualify as an official auditor for DQS. Some clients have even chosen to work with us down the road because they saw our training process in a previous audit. In the end, DQS auditors hold true to their “tough but fair” audits because we ensure that they have the necessary industry experience, proper training, and that they can provide a professional and thorough audit from start to finish and add valuable insights for our customers.