Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is one of the fastest growing career disciplines in the financial services industry. As such, there are many opportunities for both individuals who seek to get into these fields as well as those who wish to continue to advance within them.
True to the law of supply and demand, this has led to increased competition for job seekers and employers alike. So as a GRC professional in today’s marketplace, how does one ensure that they continue to stand out and stay marketable in their discipline?
Based on our experience as hiring managers, recruiters, and advisers in this space, here are five very important ways to supercharge your career and stay relevant:
Learn your business. How can one possibly understand the risks without knowing how a business works? It is imperative that one learns their company’s business model – organizational structure, processes, clients, operations, revenue generation, and so forth. Actively seek out knowledge and use all available resources to add to you knowledge base.
Get involved. Take advantage of the wonderful industry resources and learning opportunities available to those in the audit, security, compliance, and risk fields. Make an effort to attend conferences/seminars, sign-up for classes, and network with other professionals. This will yield tremendous benefits both in terms of professional development and your external network.
Know the market. It always makes sense to get a sense for the available opportunities in your discipline whether you are actively looking or not. This research will give a good indication as to what other organizations are doing as well as compensation intelligence. Remember, you do not always get to plan when your ‘dream opportunity’ will arise, so it is important to be ready when it does.
Expand your horizons. Strive to become a well-rounded professional, not just a GRC practitioner. Build out your competencies by exposing yourself to other disciplines and skills such as finance, six sigma, leadership/management, presentation skills, and so forth. You should constantly strive to evolve yourself as an individual and grow as a person…moving beyond GRC is a perfect way to do just that.
Take charge. Do not be reactive about your career. Visualize where you want to go with your career (e.g. 5 years, 10 years, 20 years) and design a plan to get there. Identify gaps in your current skill set, experience, and role – then come up with a plan to address these areas. As you grow personally and professionally, your career goals will inevitably change so it makes sense to do this exercise a number of times in order to reflect your new reality….whatever that is. Remember, if you don’t know where you are going, how can you ever hope get there?
