When conducting research for our 2015 Regional Hiring Outlook, we found that employers across sectors are ramping up their hiring efforts—especially in financial services. Now, well into the second month of the year, this trend seems to be continuing. The financial services industry is thriving more than ever, and its hiring trends reflect that; even salary has been on the rise, with 2014’s in-year salary growth from candidates placed by The Execu|Search Group reaching an impressive 15.81%.

As with many other sectors,  the financial services market is currently candidate-driven, with the demand for qualified candidates heavily outweighing the supply. The following are the top 3 financial services jobs in most need of qualified candidates, and how you can take advantage of these opportunities: Operations, Investor Relations, and Compliance.

Operations

According to Paul Herman, Managing Director of Financial Services at The Execu|Search Group, the need for operations professionals is not only on the rise—it’s changing. “The operations field is currently exhibiting needs for tech-savvy, high-end, buy-side operations experts,” he says. “Operations professionals were once more qualitative in nature and did not need the specific skill sets they do now. Hedge funds, especially, are now seeking top talent with more quantitative skills.” As a result, employers are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill these positions, which never used to require this specialized knowledge.

And what are these desired skill sets? Today, operations professionals are expected to have broad product diversity, such as an in-depth knowledge of credit derivatives, futures and options, and asset-backed securities. According to Paul, the most in-demand product knowledge at the time is that of OTC Derivatives.

In order to be desirable to employers when seeking operations opportunities, job seekers should ensure they develop and showcase a thorough technical, quantitative understanding of trading and more complex strategies. If you are employed, take the opportunity to learn different products and strategies at your current firm; if you’re unemployed, this could be an excellent time to consider temporary assignments to gain experience with and knowledge of a variety of products.

Investor Relations

In our Regional Hiring Outlook, “Investor Relations/Marketing” was cited as the #1 technical skill by surveyed financial services employers. “No matter what the climate, investor relations professionals are always needed,” says Paul. “Hedge funds and private equity firms are seeing an increased influx of investments coming in, possibly the most to date. As a result, investor relations professionals are more in-demand in these firms than ever.”

According to Paul, these professionals are so in-demand because they act as the voice of investment firms. They are the representative face to the public, and so are always in demand, regardless of how well a firm is doing. If a firm’s performance is dropping, for example, experienced investor relations professionals are needed to interface with investors and encourage them to keep investing; however, if performance is soaring, the same professionals are still needed to help the firm stand out to investors amongst any competition.

Like operations professionals, those in investor relations are now being held to a higher quantitative standard. Knowledge of portfolio analysis and advanced Excel skills are amongst the newer qualifications job seekers should obtain if they’re looking for a career in the field.

Compliance

It’s no secret that compliance has been and is still one of the hottest fields in financial services. In just the past few months, we’ve observed an uptick in demand for high-level consultants, algorithmic/electronic trading and swap dealer compliance, and CCAR stress testing, to name a few. But according to Stephanie Tancredi, Director of The Execu|Search Group’s Financial Services division, the compliance needs taking precedent right now are those focused on Dodd Frank compliance, the Volcker Rule, and Investment Adviser’s Act compliance. In fact, in our Regional Hiring Outlook, Dodd Frank and The Investment Adviser’s Act/Investment Company Act were rated amongst the top 5 most in-demand technical skills for financial services professionals.

“Even firms that aren’t currently hiring in other areas are still seeking compliance professionals,” says Stephanie. “Whereas hedge funds and private equity firms were once only subject to exams by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) once every seven years, they are now being reviewed much more often. Some firms are getting their very first exam since opening, and others are ramping up their compliance efforts for their next one. Whatever the situation, financial services firms are all currently in the same mindset: hire compliance professionals now to prevent expensive fines in the future.”

If you’re looking to start or continue a career in compliance, familiarizing yourself with any of these three major areas is the first step. However, compliance is one of the most rapidly-growing areas of financial services, so make sure to read up on strategies for deciding between multiple offers before delving too deep into the job search process.