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

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*.