Increased regulation across business sectors globally has meant compliance has become a growth sector in terms of career opportunities. The range of career paths, linked to the ability to specialise in specific areas of compliance, has meant it’s an area of increasing interest to Queen Mary’s postgraduate law students, including to those taking the Master’s in Regulation and Compliance. Consequently, qLegal was delighted that Bloomberg offered to extend its existing pro bono support of qLegal to develop a new Compliance experiential learning programme for 2020/2021.
In March, qLegal and Bloomberg developed a pilot mentoring scheme, with additional volunteers from the compliance team at Bank of America and white collar crime team at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Thirty-two highly experienced professionals with a wealth of expertise were willing to share their insights to help the next generation of talent. They were paired with 32 equally keen students who had undergone qLegal’s application and selection process.
The mentoring pilot runs until the end of September but already the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive on all sides. One student has credited her mentor with helping her shine in the interview that landed her a Compliance Analyst role with a global investment management firm.
For next academic year, the plan is to augment the mentoring with a series of ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions on specific areas of compliance. Students will have the opportunity to pick the brains of Bloomberg’s experts and find out how they apply the theory in real life. A more hands-on ‘learning by doing’ event is planned for the following semester, in which teams of students will work alongside Bloomberg professionals in a compliance problem-solving workshop. The format and topics covered will mirror those experienced by Bloomberg’s team, giving students a taste of compliance in practice, and a head start in developing their careers.