Deciding on a career path can be stressful when you have so many options laid out in front of you and don’t know where to begin. Of course, everyone has to buckle down and choose their starting point sooner or later, but the commitment usually comes with a bit of doubt and second-guessing. If you’ve been considering a career in legal and compliance, you might be looking for some validation or encouragement that will push you in the right direction.
Ultimately, whether the job is right for you will depend on your personality, preferences, and long-term goals. With that said, here are a few reasons why many people opt to pursue a career in legal and compliance.
1. Easy and Educational Entry
One of the main factors behind the popularity of legal and compliance jobs is the fact that it’s typically easy for someone with no experience and no degree to get hired for an entry-level position that still provides a decent amount of opportunity and benefits. Financial institutions and organizations commonly hire inexperienced individuals to perform low level compliance duties because it’s generally a topic that an employee can be quickly trained in. In addition, not only is it easier to get hired in this sector of the financial job pool, these positions also help novice workers gain an overarching understanding of business processes, protocols, and procedures.
2. Gaining Experience and Learning from Veterans
Managerial employees in the human resources and legal & compliance departments are highly knowledgeable and experienced in the corporate realm. As an entry-level compliance worker, you’ll be taken under their wing and will have the chance to gain some excellent apprenticeship experience playing a role similar to a protégé. This is an advantage that is present in other industries but not nearly as pronounced as it is in the legal and compliance sector, where paying attention to detail and remembering rules are key focus points.
3. Opportunity to Climb the Corporate Ladder
Just as you’ll be learning valuable lessons and techniques from those veteran leaders that are just above you on the corporate ladder, you can also catch their attention and try for a promotion or raise. You might also make a powerful impression when presenting one of your compliance reports during a conference or board meeting. Thus, employees in the legal and compliance sectors are more likely to advance their careers at a faster pace than other workers in the labour level of a corporation. Furthermore, having experience in this area of company operation will make you a more eligible candidate when you do decide to submit your résumé for a higher-level position with your current employer or another company.
4. High Job Availability
Finally, the last yet possibly most important reason to apply for a position in the legal and compliance is that these jobs are everywhere and often overlooked by other job seekers. In a way, it is like the data entry profession, but with way more perks because a reasonably intelligent person with enough drive can and will eventually land a job in legal and compliance, just as anyone in the world with technical proficiency can obtain a job as a data entry specialist. A low rate of unemployment keeps compliance professionals gainfully employed most of the time, with only a tiny minority of workers going without pay in the field. Ultimately, if you want a bad in this sector bad enough, you should be able to land it via an extensive and persistent job search.
Do Your Due Diligence Before Deciding
In closing, while all of the above information should certainly help you weigh the pros and cons, it’s also wise to ask for input from people who have first-hand experience in this niche. Networking on forums and social media can help you find legal and compliance professionals that might be able to share valuable insight regarding what’s involved with their job and what kind of lifestyle their career affords. While salaries will vary across the spectrum, if you have a specific position in mind, you should be able to get a ballpark figure of what you’ll be making and how long it will take you to get there.
