Category: Hiring Advice

We speak to Compliance professionals every day. Some are rising quickly. Others are stuck, even though they’re doing good work.

The difference often comes down to a few key behaviours.

With hiring managers placing more value on commercial thinking, stakeholder influence and adaptability, the people who stand out are those who do more than just keep up with the rules.

Here are four habits we see time and time again in candidates who get hired faster, promoted sooner, and trusted with more responsibility.

1. Prioritise Learning Over Short-Term Gain

We often tell candidates this: chasing salary alone can limit your long-term growth. The best careers are built on learning and adaptability.

What to focus on:

• Choose roles that stretch your skills, not just your salary
• Join teams that challenge how you think
• Be open to sideways moves if they broaden your experience
• Track what you’re learning, not just what you’re earning

This mindset always pays off. Fast learners become trusted leaders.

2. Build Trust Across the Business

Having the right knowledge is essential, but trust is what makes people listen. We hear it all the time from hiring managers, they want someone who understands the business, not just the rules.

What helps:

• Learn what other departments care about
• Offer support on cross-functional projects
• Follow through on what you say you’ll do
• Use clear, simple language when speaking to stakeholders

This is how Compliance becomes a partner to the business, not a tick-box function.

3. Choose Roles Strategically

The best candidates we work with are intentional. They think two or three steps ahead, not just about their next job title.

Ask yourself:

• Where could this role lead in a few years?
• Will I have the chance to learn from good people?
• Does the company value compliance at a senior level?
• Will I be supported to grow, not just left to it?

Career momentum is often about being in the right environment, not just the right job.

4. Be Intentional and Visible

You can’t rely on good work to speak for itself. We always remind people: the best performers make sure others know what they’re contributing.

Simple actions that help:

• Share what you’re working on in team sessions
• Volunteer for projects that give you wider exposure
• Document your wins and share results when relevant
• Book regular check-ins with your manager to talk through progress

People notice when you show up with confidence and clarity.

Skills That Help You Stand Out

The people who progress the fastest usually build strength in these areas:

• Understanding how regulations affect the wider business
• Communicating clearly with non-specialists
• Influencing decisions and gaining buy-in
• Leading projects from start to finish
• Thinking commercially, not just technically

These skills make Compliance professionals harder to replace and quicker to promote.

Mistakes That Can Hold You Back

We’ve seen talented people get stuck for years. Often, it’s because of patterns like these:

• Picking roles for job title or salary, not learning
• Avoiding projects outside your usual comfort zone
• Focusing only on tasks, not the outcomes
• Staying in roles with no feedback or development
• Keeping your head down when you should be sharing wins

Avoiding these habits gives you a real edge.

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Final Thought

We’ve placed hundreds of professionals into risk and compliance roles. The ones who thrive are the ones who learn, build trust, think long term and make themselves visible.

It’s not about being loud. It’s about being intentional.

If you’re thinking about your next move, and want to find a role that supports your growth, we’d love to help.
Get in touch with the team at Uncover

On Episode 20 of The UNCOVER Pod, Alex Ktorides, the Head of Risk & Compliance at Bristows LLP, joined us to share some insights on how to navigate your career with confidence and clarity. He also shared his advice for more senior professionals who are leading Legal Risk & Compliance teams, specifically around building a positive culture that brings out the best in your colleagues. Read on to find out how you can become a better leader by influencing your team’s culture. 

What strategies have you found most effective for managing and motivating teams within the sector?

You learn on the job. Managing people is something that people take to quickly or otherwise. In terms of strategies to motivate a team, I have learned through trial and error that some things work better than others. They’re not particular to a law firm or to a risk function, they are more general things that apply to being a boss anywhere. Being a good boss is really important, and you can do that by showing that you’re consistent, being responsible and trying to give people the tools that they need to thrive. I tend to blame myself if something doesn’t go how I want. Next, I’ll ask the question ‘What is it that I didn’t do to help that person to do their best?’ 

Law firms or risk and compliance teams can be, if you’re not careful, quite isolating for people. You’re there to make sure that the guardrails are up, and that the firm can feel confident to do what it does really well. Make sure that people feel motivated and that they understand what’s going on in the business. It’s important that your team understand that they’re part of the firm – and a really important part at that. Share what’s going on, even just about the day’s work, so they feel aligned and not isolated. 

I think it’s important to show the impact of what they’re doing as well. So, for example, we go through some practical things like weekly stats in terms of file openings, conflict checks, etc. Sometimes you can highlight something that directly shows what we did leading to a pitch succeeding, or a piece of work getting done in a way that really pleased the client. Always link the value of what they’re doing. 

Be a good delegator as well. People want to move up, and for their skills to grow. Try to motivate people by letting them have more responsibility when they’re ready and when they want it. Recognise that people have different speeds too. Some people are very happy with the trajectory they’re on, others naturally want to push the boundaries. It’s up to you to tailor your approach and motivate people based on them as individuals.

How do you go about cultivating a culture of engagement and collaboration within your team?

Highlighting real-life examples of where we have made a direct impact on the wider business really improves engagement. I want to make sure that I share genuine examples with people so they feel engaged. What we do in the risk and compliance team is really pervasive throughout the whole business. That’s only getting stronger with the regulatory focus on culture and behaviours and things like that. Even though you’re just checking company structure charts in order to do a small part of the file opening, without that, a business will absolutely die, particularly these days with so much regulatory scrutiny. So I try and talk to them about why we are doing things, not just the specific task itself, but the bigger picture. 

Simple things like sharing the breaches register with the team or talking about bigger projects that they might be involved in are also important. I make sure that I talk to the team, see what they’re seeing, and seek out their opinions. I really do value the opinions of everyone on the team. People feel engaged when you show them that they’re valued by trying to incorporate some of their ideas. 

To hear more from Alex, tune into Episode 20 of The UNCOVER Pod here. 

Visibility is the key to getting ahead in the Legal Risk & Compliance sector. So how do you make sure people can see what you’re doing within your firm?  On Episode 7 of The Uncover Pod I was joined by Reshma Raja, who is General Counsel and Partner at RPC, to talk about ways you can gain visibility throughout your career. Here’s what she had to say:

“Most large, reputable organisations will have clear strategies and priorities. Putting your hand up to get involved with OGC, pro bono work or the firm’s environmental strategy will help people recognise you. If you’re in a risk and compliance function and you want to get involved, governance is a great area to target. There should be a very close connection between the Risk & Compliance team and the governance team to make sure that everything is done properly. If you don’t know what the firm is doing about those areas, then the chances are that they’re not anything. And if you’re in a firm that actually you’ve never heard of those acronyms, I think you should be speaking to your management and your board and saying, ‘Hang on a minute, what are we doing about OGC? It’s a very hot topic.’

If you’re a junior candidate who isn’t in a firm yet, you should be demonstrating resilience, enthusiasm and energy. Try to be outcome focussed. Legal Risk & Compliance is such a changing world, and it can be so varied. You could be handling big projects, urgent queries about conflict escalation, AML escalation or retainers with limited liability. Sometimes it can be really basic and you know the answer in your head, but sometimes there’s too much detail or there isn’t a wrong or right answer. You have to be adaptable. In terms of key attributes, the ability to process huge amounts of information, being commercial and having a genuine excitement for your area will really set you apart. 

 A large part of what we do in the Legal Risk & Compliance world is winning over clients. I think you have to work with an individual on five to six matters before they think you know what you’re talking about. It’s all about building a rapport and relationship with people. Building a personal brand is going to help you with that, because it builds trust without all those little interactions. We say it time and time again in the fee earning world; people aren’t necessarily buying the organisation or the firm, they’re buying the people behind that business. When they send queries through you’re not just working on that one retaining matter, you’re getting to know what’s bothering them, what’s keeping the GC up at night and what kind of mandates they deal with. You’re ultimately building a relationship with them to the point that they see you as their trusted legal adviser.”

To find out what else Reshma had to say, listen to Episode 7 of The UNCOVER Pod here.

A streamlined interview process is essential for maintaining candidate engagement. The Legal Risk & Compliance sector is highly competitive, so it’s crucial to eliminate any obstacles from your hiring process. If you don’t, you risk losing out to your competition. Smoothing out your process will also save your company time and resources by eliminating unnecessary steps between each hire. Read on for our tips on streamlining your hiring process. 

Assess Your Process

Before you start interviewing people, it’s important to consider whether your process is fit for purpose. Firms must determine what’s necessary for each role and avoid applying a one-size-fits-all approach. An overly protracted process will fatigue your candidates and potentially put them off. Reducing the time spent in the interview process is the first step to successfully securing your candidates. 

Your focus should be on interviewing with as much speed and efficiency as possible. For a senior leadership role a multistage in-person interview may be suitable, although for a junior analyst role a single conversation should be enough to assess a candidate’s suitability for the position. It’s vital that you adjust your interview process accordingly. 

Create a Flexible Panel

Try to be flexible with who conducts your interviews. Too many firms are following a rigid process and aren’t taking the time to question whether it’s vital for candidates to meet with a specific member of the team. Consider whether that person can be substituted with another member of your team during the interview. If your firm requires every new hire to meet with your Director of Risk for example before proceeding with an offer, you risk extending your hiring process to fit the schedule of just one person. That can result in candidates losing interest or accepting offers from other firms whose process was quicker. 

Utilise Technology

It’s crucial that firms utilise technology wherever possible in their hiring process. Historically, firms have always conducted two-stage, face-to-face interviews. However, it’s often more practical to ask candidates to be interviewed over a voice or video call in today’s digital age. If a candidate is interviewing for multiple roles, travelling to attend physical interviews in your offices can be draining. Use technology to your advantage and where possible, engage with your candidates in a virtual setting to further streamline your process. 

Offer Rapid Feedback 

It is vital for hiring managers to provide their internal recruitment team with feedback as quickly as possible after the interview. A delay in feedback can elongate your hiring process, losing momentum and candidate engagement. If there are multiple weeks between interviews, candidates will often have moved on and been taken off the market by another firm. It’s therefore essential to provide feedback as soon as possible to keep the interview process as short and slick as possible.

Build Personal Connections

It’s important not to neglect the personal element of an interview. Candidates are increasingly concerned with work-life balance, company culture and their mental wellbeing at work, so it’s important to build a connection with them on a personal level. This is more than being friendly during the interview. Hiring managers are required to understand the candidate’s motivations and explain the potential for development, training and progression in the role. That’s what makes a firm stand out when candidates are interviewing for multiple roles at once. 

Conclusion

In such a competitive candidate market, it’s essential that your interview process is engaging and efficient. That can be achieved by cutting out any unnecessary steps, substituting members of your interview panel where appropriate and focussing on understanding and engaging the candidates. Doing all of these things with speed will create a streamlined process that benefits both you and your potential hires. 

Effectively managing your team is the key to getting the best from them. As a specialist Legal Risk & Compliance recruitment agency we often act as advisors for professionals who are going into leadership roles. On Episode 1 of the UNCOVER Pod we spoke to Dieter Mack, who is the Head of Conflicts, Ethics & Commercial Advisory at Ashurst. His unique approach to management has seen his team thrive, so we asked him for his insights on getting the most out of your people*. 

How did you develop your management style, and how would you describe it now?

The last three years have changed what we considered our norms, and what we are managing for and against. The pandemic introduced us to thinking about the working space differently, from new technological solutions to the upheaval of typical, in-office, five-days-a-week working. As leaders we’re looking for the right solution for that. Every firm and manager has their own opinion, but from employee feedback we know that the general feeling is that there are great benefits from spending in-person time with your mentors. Trainees benefit most from extended contact time. 

The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted our moral landscape as well, which we also have to consider when managing people. That’s changed our criteria for how we evaluate our clients, and how our clients evaluate us. The UN has shared its notes about human rights in business and explained how everyone has a responsibility to seriously consider human rights in the workplace. We’re now considering what privileges we gain from the detriments of others, whether it’s slave labour or less obvious issues. Every law firm is going to need to wrap its head around these new factors. Anyone working or interested in compliance is going to need to be comfortable and familiar with their reasoning criteria when we have these conversations with the stakeholders in the business. 

When you’re looking at management in risk compliance, there are two general trends that you always have to look at, which are quantitative and qualitative management. Quantitative management is about ‘Are we able to deliver the SLA? How fast can we turn around the approval wherever it is required in the network? Etc.’ The qualitative aspect is about understanding the risks to the quality of your decisions. If you’re cutting corners and therefore the quality of your work, your team doesn’t get value or growth out of the role. Investments in the individuals you work with are the key to retaining a team that cares about each other and the business they’re in. You have to respond to all of those things to provide what I call human-led management. 

How have you applied those things to the day-to-day management of your team? 

I think of the human experience as the guide for my management style. That informs how we treat each other, tackle our daily work and create an optimised resource and cost allocation against the requirements of those tasks. When you have 100 problems, you might say, well, I need 10 people to work their full day to be able to solve these 100 problems for me on a daily basis. But that’s the wrong calculation. You actually need 12, because somebody is going to be sick, and somebody’s going to be on holiday. You also need to make the important assessment of what a human needs to feel that they’re valued, that they’re growing, and that they have a fair transaction in the contract that they enter into for the role. 

It’s important to recognise the value of every person that is giving their day to work in your organisation or team. That value exchange needs to be very clear, insofar as that they need to be able to get the most out of their working day while they’re there. That puts an onus on management to go, ‘Okay, how do I meet my side of the bargain by providing you with the best working experience and transactional value? You should see progress in your development, so we will spend time on ensuring that I understand who you are, what you need, and how you can be at your best. When you’re at your best, you are working in a team that attains high performance in a happy way, not with an angry face.’ Being happy and healthy is the best way to get the best out of your team. 

Approaching any situation, whether it is your interpersonal relationships, how you deal with challenges, etc, you need an open mind and happiness. That comes from good relationships with your peers and your team. It’s up to management to focus on ensuring that people’s needs are being met, because otherwise, naturally, some people will underperform, other people will notice, and resentment will build up. If you give people dignity, you lift each other up, you recognise the value of every human in your community and see yourself as having value, you’re making somebody else’s life better in your proximity, and that will lead to better things for you too.

How do you think your management contributes to the health of the firm? 

It helps us retain and grow our talent. When people feel like they have purpose and that they’re challenged, we do better as a company. Nobody wants to be bored, because when you’re bored, you fall asleep at the wheel. We challenge people in a good, healthy and happy way with support around them. There are challenges, because money never comes from an endless pot. Any of those physical aspects or material needs have to be met, because otherwise people won’t survive in your company. After that, you need to focus on the very simple question, how can I be my best? It’s a continuous journey, but it’s one that relies on a community that is supporting and affirming each other, which is the healthiest way to be. 

To hear more about effectively managing people in the Legal Risk & Compliance sector, tune into The UNCOVER Pod. 

* Responses have been edited for length and clarity.