Compliance Officer Career Assessment
Checking that people and companies follow the rules
Welcome
Compliance officers check whether a person, a business, or a government office is following the law. They review records, inspect sites, test paperwork, and write up what they find.
This is a wide job title that covers very different work in different places. You will explore what it really means and whether it fits you.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Compliance Officer?
Compliance means following the rules. A compliance officer checks that the rules are being followed. O*NET describes the work as examining and investigating whether someone meets the laws, licenses, and permits that apply to them. The sample job titles O*NET lists for this job are plain ones: driver license examiner, licensing analyst, public service representative, and motor vehicle clerk. Other people with this title check bank paperwork, hospital billing, safety rules at a plant, or environmental permits.
The Reality: Here is the honest part. "Compliance officer" is not one job. In a bank it means knowing lending and deposit law. In a hospital it means knowing billing and patient privacy rules. In a pipeline or oil company it means safety and environmental permits. At the state, it can mean testing drivers or checking licenses. The rules you must know are completely different in each one. Almost nobody is hired as a compliance officer from the outside with no background. You get there by working in the industry first, learning its rules, and then moving into the compliance seat. So pick the industry first, then the job title.
Your Responsibilities:
- Read the laws, rules, and permits that apply to the work
- Check records, files, and reports for mistakes
- Inspect a site, a vehicle, or a process in person
- Test whether someone qualifies for a license or permit
- Write clear reports about what you found
- Tell people what they must fix, and by when
- Train coworkers on the rules they have to follow
- Keep careful notes that could be read in court
You are the person who checks that the rules were really followed.
A Day in the Life
8:00 AM — Read new guidance the state sent out. Note what changed.
8:45 AM — Pull 25 files at random and test them against the rule.
10:15 AM — Find three files missing a signature. Write them up.
11:00 AM — Meet the department manager to explain the problem.
12:00 PM — Lunch.
12:45 PM — Drive to a work site for a scheduled inspection.
2:30 PM — Walk through the site with a checklist. Take photos.
4:15 PM — Write the inspection report while it is fresh.
Part desk work, part checking on people. You need to be firm and polite at the same time.
Training in North Dakota
Most compliance jobs want a bachelor's degree, but the bigger key is knowing one industry well. O*NET places this job in Job Zone Four. That means most jobs want a four-year degree, several years of related work experience, and on-the-job training. There is no single "compliance" degree in North Dakota. People come in from business, accounting, criminal justice, health care, banking, or safety work.
Training Pathways:
- Work your way in (most common): Take a job inside the industry you want — a bank teller, a claims clerk, a medical billing job, a plant operator. Learn the rules from the inside. Then apply when a compliance job opens.
- Two-year degree plus a state job (2 years): A business associate degree plus a state or county office job. Many state license and permit jobs train you on their own rules once you are hired.
- Four-year degree (4 years): A business administration, accounting, or public administration degree. This opens the higher-paying corporate and bank compliance jobs.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
- Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Business Administration, Associate in Arts, offered on campus and online. BSC states that students who finish it can continue into a Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Management and Leadership on the BSC campus through agreements with Minot State University or Dickinson State University — bismarckstate.edu
- North Dakota State College of Science (Wahpeton and Fargo) — Business Management, AAS (Administration and Finance), 61 credits. NDSCS lists the pathways it prepares you for as administrative support, general management, human resources, operations, accounting, banking, and insurance. Face-to-face in Wahpeton or Fargo, with some classes online — catalog.ndscs.edu
- Minot State University (Minot) — Management, BS, 120 credits, offered on campus and online. Minot State lists government, health services, finance, and human resources among the areas its graduates work in — minotstateu.edu
- North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Business Administration, BS, minimum 120 credits — catalog.ndsu.edu
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Business Administration, BBA, 120 credits, offered on campus and online — und.edu
- Valley City State University (Valley City) — Business Administration, BS, with concentrations in Human Resources and Management, Managerial Accounting and Finance, Marketing, and Agribusiness. Offered on campus and online — vcsu.edu
Before You Start: High school diploma or GED. You need to read carefully and write clearly. Much of this job is reading a rule, then writing down plainly what you found. A clean driving record helps for jobs with site visits.
Tip: Start with financial aid, scholarships, and any help an employer offers — that is where the money starts. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like training, tools, work boots, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you sign up rather than after. Registered apprenticeships let you earn a paycheck while you learn — see jobsnd.com/job-seeker/apprenticeships for ND programs.
Certification & Licensing
There is no single compliance license. The certificates that matter depend on your industry. You do not need a license to be called a compliance officer. Instead, each industry has its own certificate, and employers in that industry care about theirs and not the others. Here are real ones, with the group that issues each.
Industry Certificates You Might Get:
- No license required to hold the job title. Most compliance officers are hired on their industry experience, not a certificate
- CRCM (American Bankers Association) — Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, for banking. The ABA gives two ways in. With at least 3 years of United States compliance experience, you also finish two approved training options in the last 5 years. With 6 or more years of compliance experience in the last 10 years, and 3 of those years inside the last 5, you need no extra training (aba.com)
- CRCM experience rules — the ABA says the work must be real compliance work: risk assessments, audits, program design, policy enforcement, or examinations. Just doing the business task itself does not count (aba.com)
- CCEP and CHC (Compliance Certification Board) — general corporate compliance and health care compliance certificates. The board sets work experience and continuing education requirements you must meet before you may sit for the exam. Ask them for the current numbers (corporatecompliance.org)
- State training — for state jobs like driver license examiner or licensing analyst, the state agency trains you on its own rules after you are hired. There is no certificate to buy first
The Exams: Each certificate has its own exam, set by the group that issues it. There is no common national compliance exam.
Cost: Fees are set by each issuing group and change, so ask them directly for the current amount. Many employers pay the fee for you once you are in the job.
Keeping It Current: Industry certificates renew on a schedule set by the issuing group and require continuing education hours. Your employer usually pays for this training.
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Compliance Officer Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $27.05–$30.64/hour ($56,260–$63,730/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $38.19/hour ($79,440/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $49.23–$55.95/hour ($102,400–$116,370/year)
What that means: The middle North Dakota compliance officer earns about $38.19 an hour, or about $79,440 a year. That is almost exactly the national middle of $38.81, which is unusual — North Dakota office pay is often lower. Read this number with care for one reason: the title covers very different jobs. A driver license examiner at a state office and a bank compliance manager are both counted here, and they do not earn the same. The bottom tenth, near $27.05 an hour, is closer to the entry state and county jobs. The top tenth here is about $55.95 an hour, while the national top tenth is about $64.29, because the very large corporate compliance departments are mostly out of state. This is salaried office work, so do not count on overtime pay.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 970 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 970 (no change — flat). Expect about 70 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 3% growth — average.
Outlook: Steady, not growing. North Dakota is projected to have about the same number of compliance officers in 2034 as in 2024. Still, about 70 openings a year come open as people retire or move up. You are competing for existing seats, not new ones.
Who Hires in ND: Banks and credit unions, hospitals and clinics, insurance companies, oil and gas and pipeline companies, utilities, food and grain processors, colleges, tribal governments, city and county offices, and North Dakota state agencies.
Work Setting: Mostly an office. Some of these jobs include regular travel to inspect sites, plants, or offices around the state. Winter driving is part of that.
Physical Demands: Low to moderate. Desk work most of the time. Inspection jobs add walking a site, climbing stairs or ladders, and standing in cold or loud places. Ask what the travel really looks like before you take a job.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 13-1041); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Clerk or Specialist in an Industry — Where almost everyone starts.
Path 2: Compliance Analyst — Your first compliance title. You test and report.
Path 3: Compliance Officer — You own a rule area and answer for it.
Path 4: Compliance Manager — You run the program and a small team.
Path 5: Auditor or Examiner — You check other companies from the outside.
Path 6: Chief Compliance Officer — You answer to the board for the whole company.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- Pay near the national middle
- Your knowledge is hard to replace
- Work in almost any industry
- Mix of desk work and site visits
- Clear right and wrong answers
- Jobs at state and county offices statewide
What's Hard:
- Flat job growth in North Dakota
- Hard to enter from outside an industry
- You deliver bad news to coworkers
- Rules change and you must keep up
- Very different job in each industry
- Your notes can end up in court
Be Honest: Are you willing to spend a few years inside one industry first? Can you tell a coworker that their work is wrong, and stay calm when they push back? Can you read long, dry rules and still catch the details?