Get Certified with Relevant Certificates and a Degree
There is always demand for all types of risk and compliance professionals. According to senior recruiters in Mergis Group, college graduates do not opt for compliance jobs and hence most junior level positions are filled up by graduates who are from the finance, legal or other operational domains. Firms usually expect industry licenses from the job applicants with a certification related to Series 7 or Series 24.
Michael Karp, managing partner, Options Group says that certification and a CFA degree usually matters while finding out a compliance job. There are Wall Street firms who would be hiring for junior level professionals or there might be job positions for senior staff who are usually seasoned professionals in the compliance domain. According to Carp, a legal background can work wonders along with an experience span of five to seven years of experience. A chief compliance officer in most cases is required to have a law degree for a preferred status for the job.
Hone Your Soft Skills for the Edge
Besides the technical qualifications, Wall Street firms usually prefer candidates who are loaded with the elusive soft skills and communication edge. The ones who know how to form relationships are most sought after since the whole purpose of compliance officer is to know how to serve as liaison to different federal agencies. Officers who can communicate and deal with regulators are in top demand in many firms. They should be true diplomats, always.
Specialized officers are constantly in demand, instead of a generic compliance person. Intellectual capital is essential to the role of a compliance officer.
Go With the Flow
It is important to be flexible and adjustable in any of the compliance job positions. It is extremely important to preserve self worth and work at Wall Street since there are a number of other people who are in similar job profiles.
Compliance beyond Wall Street
There are various job profiles associated with compliance and risk management jobs. Compliance jobs at Wall Street include compliance analyst jobs, compliance manager jobs, compliance analyst jobs and the like. The job profiles related to risk and compliance domain in Wall Street are usually recession-proof as the last time around when the recession struck in 2007, these job domains were always in demand. Most financial organizations and companies laid off thousands of workers on a global scale but risk and compliance continued to remain stable in terms of growth. Firms are always wary of the next risk frontier and to deal with them and the increased regulatory scrutiny, experts related to risk and compliance are required. Many risk and compliance staff in 2007 got healthy bonuses in spite of losses. Compensation structures in 2007 ranged from $80,000 to $2,000,000 per annum. The Risk Talent Associates’ surveys also indicated an average annual salary of $180,000 and total compensation exceeding $450,000 for risk positions in the capital markets.
