Delivering social compliance audits in China with the APSCA CSCA auditor who’s never failed
Interview with Amy Wei, Eurofins’ CSCA Social Auditor in China
As one of the many companies providing social compliance audits in China, Eurofins always strives to offer audit services of high quality and integrity to our customers by investing in people’s capacities and capabilities. That's why we feel specially honoured and motivated to have trained up our own auditor Amy Wei, who passed all three levels of Certified Social Compliance Auditor (CSCA) examinations by Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA) without any re-takes!
After the celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, we had a quick conversation with Amy to uncover her secret to success and to hear more about the development path in this career field.
Amy Wei, the Eurofins auditor that didn’t fail any CSCA exam, at park.
Q: This is always the first question to interviewees – why did you join this industry?
It has only been one and a half years in the compliance field for me, and Eurofins is my first employer! I obtained a bachelor's degree in English and worked as a merchandiser after graduation. Although I didn’t have to handle compliance in the merchandising position, I came across audit and compliance briefly, which I found quite interesting and meaningful.
When I saw the Eurofins’ job ad, I knew my chance had come, and I feel so lucky that I was hired! This job truly inspires me as I get to help factories reduce risks and employees to protect their legal rights. I particularly enjoy picking up legal knowledge on labour law in China, which is a great asset to have.
Q: How did you find the APSCA CSCA examinations?
To be very frank, the exams are as challenging as everyone says, especially for a fresh practitioner like me. The part III exam is the final hurdle, which you cannot pass without spending 50 or 100 hours preparing. This part assesses an auditor’s capacity in all regards, from professional audit knowledge to communications skills, pressure-handling ability, planning and coordination capabilities, and spontaneous responsiveness. They really are a lot to take on!
Q: We have heard that you are one of the very few in the world who started and finished the CSCA Level III Examination from scratch without any re-takes. That is truly remarkable. Did you really spend 50 or even 100 hours preparing?
I might have! I didn’t count. When I entered my social auditor career at Eurofins, I was fully aware that I would one day sit the CSCA Exam and join the rest of the 1,750 Level III auditors in the world. Not long after starting the job, I was very grateful that Eurofins nominated me to take part in the CSCA exams.
I read exam documents provided by APSCA very carefully. Everything, such as content of each exam part, special requirements and guidelines, were studied. All online exercises by APSCA were finished.
At the same time, having real field experience in audit is crucial to handle the online simulated assessment part of the exam. I first learnt a lot of practical knowledge and sharing from my supervisor Joyce Zhou and other auditor colleagues, before I went on to doing onsite audits on my own. It might be exaggerating to say so, but I view each audit as a mission that all audit instructions and requirements are followed strictly so as to conclude credentialed and unbiased social compliance performance assessments for our customers.
Insight sharing and training from Joyce, as well as those from Mohammed Khaled, our Global Technical Manager in audit, were very helpful.
Lastly, before every examination, I cheered myself up. I am a strong believer in self-motivation and if one does not have faith in themselves, they will not prevail. And then here I am, humbly sharing my CSCA success.
Q: During your many audit ‘missions’, have you experienced any particularly special moment or occasion?
I started the job when China was under strict COVID-19 control. Running field audits aren’t exactly an easy thing. Auditors are constantly on the road to different sites and encounter many different people. Having to balance audits management and quarantine requirements made things ten times harder! I was once in a hotel for seven-day quarantine after a possible contact with a COVID-positive passenger from the same high-speed train I took to travel from home to the audit destination city. The audit schedule was disrupted, and I could only continue my journey after the quarantine.
Q: Being a relatively new auditor in the field, what have you observed about audit development and compliance in China so far?
The manufacturing and exporting industries in China have been on the centre stage of the world’s economy over probably the past five or six decades. With the high level of prosperity, comes naturally a great deal of compliance accountability, as corporate social responsibility (CSR) flourished over the last 20 to 25 years. The overall situation has improved dramatically as social compliance issues such as child labour and forced labour are rare in China.
Many factory owners in China are now very well-versed in compliance. They see compliance as an investment rather than a cost, as a proper compliant system can avoid potentially much problems. Similarly, workers have in general a strong awareness of their labour rights, and they know in what ways they should and can protect themselves.
I am so excited to be working at Eurofins and am pleased with all the nurture I have received. I am also honoured to be part of China’s manufacturing success.
Eurofins provides a wide range of social compliance audit services. Find out more details here or make audit booking with us!
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