Find out the top 10 core skills you need to master as a forensic / fraud officer and what hard skills you need to know to succeed in this job.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer investigates all types of financial issues concerning forgeries, legal claims, work injuries and any other fraudulent case. By poring through records, interviewing claimants and even working undercover to collect enough evidence, the officer gets to know every detail required to determine if fraud was committed. This officer works closely wit the police and state regulatory agencies that may need him to testify in a criminal or civil case.

Other tasks include analyzing government and insurance databases to ascertain precise background information on claimants and potential witnesses, visiting and interviewing applicants, performing surveillance work through undercover investigations, Understanding, and Practice of laws that pertain to public and insurance funds, understanding and practice of the legal limits of private investigation

Core Skills Required to be a Forensic / Fraud Officer

Core skills describe a set of non-technical abilities, knowledge, and understanding that form the basis for successful participation in the workplace. Core skills enable employees to efficiently and professionally navigate the world of work and interact with others, as well as adapt and think critically to solve problems.

Core skills are often tagged onto job descriptions to find or attract employees with specific essential core values that enable the company to remain competitive, build relationships, and improve productivity.

A forensic / fraud officer should master the following 10 core skills to fulfill her job properly.

Critical Thinking:

Critical Thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally while understanding the logical connection between ideas in a reflective and independent thinking.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings do represent the entire picture while identifying, analyzing and solving problems by deducing consequences from what he knows and making use of the information gathered.

Accuracy:

Accuracy refers to the closeness of a measured value to a known value or standard that is passed by the governing laws.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer has to always be accurate with figures and data used and required in the office without any guesswork or estimations to facilitate precise and correct information in every department creating an authentic environment that will be respected by the workers.

Judgment Skills:

Judgment is the ability to make a decision or form an opinion wisely especially in matters affecting action, good sense and discretion.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer must be a person of good judgment with the ability to make the right decision at the right time and for right reasons especially in prioritizing the work correctly to focus on a few important things and ensure excellent results are delivered.

Giving Feedback:

Giving Feedback is one of the most powerful tools to develop employees and improve performance through honest feedback of the work done best and areas that need improvement.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer should be skilled in giving out both praise and criticism in a wise way to occasionally show workers where they need to improve and providing them with an observer's insight into the progress of their performance.

Dedication to Work:

Dedication to Work is a devotion or setting aside the scheduled time that you are required to work each day consistently without fail as well as being on time and giving 100% of your efforts to doing quality work.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer ought to be dependable and set an example for the rest of the workforce by showing up for work on time every day consistently and producing quality work while applying company policies and business strategies.

Personal Growth:

Personal Growth is the improvement of one's awareness, identity, developing talents and potential to facilitate the growth of oneself and the position they handle at the workplace.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer ought to assist his employees in finding themselves by introducing or referring them to methods, programs, tools, techniques and assessment systems that support their development at the individual level in the organization.

Adaptability:

Adaptability is the ability to cope with and adapt to unexpected situations in any environment and staying connected with a great attitude.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer must shape the workplace with leadership skills that allow employees to adapt to the provided atmosphere and be able to give their best in the workplace while growing in their ability to become the best employees.

Personal Accountability:

Personal Accountability is the feeling that you are entirely responsible for your actions and consequences taking ownership without blaming others.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer should provide a list of duties and responsibilities that every employee is expected to perform and define timelines and supervisors who oversee the work to ensure each knows what she /he should do and remain accountable without passing blame.

Personal Relationships:

Personal Relationships is the relationship between individuals who have or have had a continuing relationship of any nature either professional or informal.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer reserves the right to take prompt action if an actual or potential conflict of interest arises concerning individuals who engage in a personal relationship that may affect terms and conditions of employment and he should not also date a subordinate.

Problem/Situation Analysis:

Problem/Situation Analysis is the ability to solve problems and assess situations to know what kind of solution is required to calm it down.

A Forensic / Fraud Officer should learn how to identify and analyze problems and situations as well as use available resources to resolve them constructively by reaching a consensus through looking at an issue in a professional, not personal way.

Hard Skills Required to be a Forensic / Fraud Officer

Hard skills are job-specific skill sets, or expertise, that are teachable and whose presence can be tested through exams. While core skills are more difficult to quantify and less tangible, hard skills are quantifiable and more defined.

Hard skills are usually listed on an applicant's resume to help recruiters know the applicant's qualifications for the applied position. A recruiter, therefore, needs to review the applicant's resume and education to find out if he/she has the knowledge necessary to get the job done.

A forensic / fraud officer should have a good command of the following hard skills to succeed in her job.

Forensic / Fraud Officer: Hard skills list

Account Analysis
Account Reconciliation
Accounting Information Systems
Accounting Software
Accounts Payable
Accounting Processes
Accounting Principles
Accounts Receivable
Accuracy
ADP
Aging Reports
Analytical
Analysis
Annual Reports
Asset Management
Attention to Detail
Audits
Audit Schedules
Balance Sheets
Banking
Bank Deposits
Bank Reconciliations
Bill Payment
Bookkeeping
Budgets
Business Awareness
Cash Receipts
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Chart of Accounts
Check Runs
Collections
Commitment
Communication
Compliance
Computer
Corporate Reports
Corporate Tax
Cost Accounting
Credit Management
Credits
Crystal Reports
Debt Management
Depreciation
Detail Orientation
Federal Tax Law
Finance
Financial Analysis
Financial Reporting
Financial Software
Financial Statements
Financial Statement Analysis
Fixed Assets
Forecasts
Forecasting
Full Charge Bookkeeping
Full Cycle Month-End Close
Full Cycle Year-end Close
GAAP
General Ledger
Great Plains Accounting
Great Plains Dynamics
Income Tax
Interest Calculations
Interpersonal Skills
Invoices
IT Knowledge
Job Cost Reports
Journal Entry Preparation/Posting
Mathematical
Microsoft Office
Monthly Closes
Motivation
Multitasking
MS Access
MS Excel
MS Word
Numerical Competence
Oracle
Organization
Paychex
Payroll
Payroll Liabilities
Payroll Taxes
Peachtree
Personal Tax
Petty Cash
Platinum
Prepaid Income/Expenses
Problem Solving
Profit and Loss
Professionalism
QuickBooks
Reconciliation
Regulatory Filings
Reporting
Revenue Projections
Revenue Recognition
Sales Receipts
SAP
Special Projects
State Tax Law
Tax Analysis
Tax Compliance
Tax Filing
Tax Law
Tax Liabilities
Tax Reporting
Tax Returns
Tax Software
Technology
Teamwork
Time Management
Training
Trial Balance
Vouchers
Writing
Written Communication
Year End Reporting

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