Top Resume Skills for Compliance Professionals

Whether you are an experienced compliance professional or someone looking to enter the field, here are the top skills to include on your resume.

When you're applying for a compliance job, your resume is one of the most important pieces of your application. Your resume is an opportunity to highlight your skills and experience, and it's crucial to craft a resume that will help you stand out from the competition. In this blog post, we'll give you some tips on what to include on your resume at every stage of your compliance career, as well as some important keywords to include.

Why Skills Phrases Matter

Keywords are important for any resume. This is because resume-screening software (also known as applicant tracking systems) looks for specific keywords when reviewing resumes. By including the right keywords, you can ensure that your resume makes it past the initial screening and into the hands of a human reviewer.

There are many types of keywords or skills phrases that are important to resumes for compliance professionals. The ATS will scan for all the types of phrases and people will look for these concepts as well. Our resume writing and recruiting teams put together the following guide to all of the keywords that matter for compliance resumes.

Top Soft Skills for Compliance

Soft skills are the first type of keywords that applicant tracking systems will look for on your compliance resume. Employers are placing more value in this type of skill to ensure that the candidates reflect their values and that they can be a fit for the company culture. Here are some of the top soft skills for compliance resumes:

• Analytical skills: Compliance professionals need to be able to analyze data and identify trends.

• Attention to detail: Attention to detail is critical in compliance jobs.

• Communication skills: Compliance professionals need excellent communication skills in order to effectively communicate with stakeholders.

• Leadership skills: Many compliance jobs require leadership skills in order to effectively manage teams.

• Organizational skills: Compliance professionals need excellent organizational skills in order to keep track of regulations and deadlines.

• Problem-solving skills: Compliance professionals often need to solve complex problems.

• Research skills: Research skills cover the laws or regulations, but also the ability to gather the data needed to evaluate compliance.

Substantive Compliance Skills

The next type of keywords to include on your compliance resume is substantive compliance skills. These are the phrases that every compliance job will require. However, some will matter more than others depending on the specific jobs that you are applying for. Here are some of the top technical compliance skills for your resume:

• Legal & Regulatory: This is the most important phrase for any compliance resume. You will need to show that you can learn various rules or laws or that you are an expert in a particular area to show that you can lead the compliance with such requirements.

• Risk management: most compliance roles require risk management. Include your experience with risk management on your resume to show that you have applied this skill previously.

• Auditing: Many compliance jobs require auditing skills in order to ensure that companies are compliant with laws and regulations.

• Investigations: Many compliance jobs require investigative skills in order to root out potential violations, respond to audit findings, or otherwise remain compliant.

• Policy development: Policy development skills are often required in order to develop and implement compliant policies.

• Training and education: Training and education are important for compliance professionals to help companies stay compliant while also building strong compliance cultures.

• Technology Skills. Most compliance roles require the use of systems or platforms. Some of these systems are used to collect data, monitor compliance, or prepare reports. Others are used to automate compliance across the operations. Whatever your experience may be, make sure to include it.

Specialty Skills for Compliance Resumes

The next big type of skill to include on your compliance resume are specialty or niche skills. These are the skills or phrases that make you stand out when that particular unique experience is needed. You will likely need to customize the specialty skills for different industries or roles. But, here are some of the most sought-after specialty skills to include on your compliance resume:

• Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX): SOX compliance is a set of laws in the handling, use, and management of data for publicly traded companies.

• Anti-corruption: This could be the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), etc.

• Financial crimes: Financial crimes compliance can happen in a variety of industries and often requires a broad skill set to navigate the regulatory frameworks from a global perspective.

• Healthcare: Healthcare compliance is broad and it can be in patient care, clinical operations, revenue cycle management, or the utilization of care or data.

• Environmental, health & safety (EHS): this is a specific type of safety that can require more engineering or hands-on experience. OSHA or other agency regulations can also vary depending on the particular industry requirements.

• Data & privacy: Data privacy compliance is an emerging field with rapidly evolving regulations. Make sure to include any applicable regulations or requirements on your resume (i.e. GDPR, PCI, COPPA, etc) and the tools/programs that you used to gain that experience.

• Industry requirements: There are many industry-specific compliance requirements or processes. If you have experience in a particular industry, be sure to include that on your resume.

These are just some of the skills and keywords that you can use to make your compliance resume stand out. But, there are many more that you can choose from depending on your experience and the specific roles that you are applying for.

Building a strong compliance resume starts with the right keywords. Make sure to use a variety of types of keywords including soft skills, speciality skills, and substantive skills. This will help you stand out to compliance recruiters and hiring managers.

Want to make sure that your resume gets through the computer systems and connects with hiring managers? Submit your information below to claim your free resume analysis or consult with compliance careers experts.