Compliance teams ensure that businesses adhere to internal controls and external regulations. Today, finding qualified compliance officers can be challenging, and companies are willing to offer lucrative packages.
If you are a compliance-minded professional, getting into the career path right now would be a wise decision. Still, wondering why you should become a compliance officer? Here are ten reasons to help you make up your mind.
1. Attractive Package
You can earn a decent salary working in the compliance field. According to a Robert Walters survey, there are massive opportunities in compliance, and companies are experiencing difficulties getting the right skills. This means attractive remuneration packages for the right skillset. Furthermore, the survey concluded that risk and compliance professionals are the biggest winners in the compliance boom.
However, packages may vary between different organizations and fields. But if you have the right skills, qualifications, and experience, you’ll always command an excellent package.
2. Great Job Security and Opportunities
Many roles in industries like finance are set to be taken over by artificial intelligence in the future. However, the complexities and implications of regulation suggest that compliance will always need direct human intervention and oversight. And while there is still a place for technology in this field, it’s only likely to affect basic administrative roles.
If you closely monitor professional networking platforms like LinkedIn, you’ll notice multiple openings in compliance. According to a recent study by Accenture, there’s a high demand for digitally fluent compliance officers.
3. Promising Career Path
Unlike in the past, compliance departments include graduate trainee programs. Similarly, entry-level positions are plenty, and the roles are often referred to as analysts.
In the compliance field, career progression can be fast-paced, with some people getting promoted from junior roles to senior roles in a span of two to four years. For people with significant experience in other areas like finance, bundling the expertise with compliance certification can get you into a senior role pretty fast.
4. Make a Difference in Protecting Customers
Consumer protection is at the core of compliance and regulation, and most of its functions are meant to ensure customers are safe from exploitation. As such, compliance roles require a high degree of ethical responsibility.
Cybercrime may be a remote concept that is difficult to decipher, but it has victims just like any crime. Working as a compliance officer means helping organizations implement and improve compliance standards to keep customers safe.
5. Skills are Transferable
If you want to ascend to a senior or technical compliance role, you will have to take exams. But the learning curve is not extremely steep, and whichever background you have can add helpful insights into your new career.
The fundamental skills required in compliance roles are transferable across different industries and roles. Skills like risk management, communication skills, and business knowledge are coveted in different compliance roles across multiple sectors.
6. You Can Have Flexible Work Schedules
Unlike in careers like investment managers, compliance professionals can enjoy a flexible work schedule. Typically, success in compliance projects is episodic rather than consistent.
As long as you plan and strategize priority projects, you won’t have to deal with tight deadlines. Basically, you do this by preparing for upcoming compliance regulations.
7. Always on Top of Latest Compliance Regulations
As a compliance professional, it’s necessary to stay updated on any compliance rules and regulations changes. And while it can be quite demanding to stay ahead, you end up accumulating invaluable knowledge and experience.
With time, you will become a sought-after expert on regulatory matters. Most importantly, early adopters on new compliance rules will seek your expert opinion on the best implementation methods.
8. Interaction With Different Departments in a Company
As a compliance officer, it’s your job to identify different regulatory and compliance issues in a company. Therefore, you’ll have to collaborate with all the departments in the company.
This level of interaction gives you a great sense of flexibility and independence. Also, understanding how different departments work can be quite inspirational for future career paths and roles.
9. Regulation Field is Growing and Demand Outstrips Supply
Occasionally, outdated laws and regulations are discarded, but the dominant trend shows an increase in regulatory frameworks. Consequently, there’s more focus on compliance which means that firms require compliance officers.
Since regulation won’t go away anytime soon, many firms are on the hunt for qualified compliance officers. Over the recent years, the opportunities have increased for individuals with desirable skills and qualifications.
10. You are the Centre of Business Ethics
While top-level management is responsible for instilling a security culture in the company, compliance officers help ensure the process blends naturally. Typically, compliance professionals don’t just guide the process; they promote and nurture the culture of accountability.
In the absence of compliance officers, most employees would be doing just what maximizes a company’s returns. But some regulatory issues can be devastating to a business. As a compliance professional, you help prevent potential ramifications by ensuring ethical behavior.
Final Words
While new careers can be challenging, compliance is worth every challenge that might come your way. Considering the vast advantages of a career in the compliance field, anyone thinking about these roles should take bold moves and acquire the right skills. Besides, regulations are not going away anytime soon, and businesses will always look for competent compliance professionals.
