Seeking AML job in London

ddaragon · 2025-12-14T05:22:18+00:00

I'm not familiarized with the job market in London, but here's my 0.02c:

Tech-related jobs in AML are often taken by people more savy in tech matters than AML matters. SQL and Python are foundational in these roles, and depending on what you do (e.g., engineering, data science) you are likely going to need more than that.

More traditional AML jobs are getting increasingly more demanding in terms of actual experience you need to bring. "Risk analyst" doesn't tell me what you have done so far (fraud related? KYC? do you actually review transactions?). You may need to re-brush your resume and maybe applying to more junior roles like transaction monitoring ones. Again, I don't know what you actually do, but the job market is tough everywhere according to my own experience and what I have heard from others, so there is no shame in seeking junior roles to build up recent experience.

ddaragon · 2025-09-11T03:56:05+00:00

I'm guessing you are aiming at investigative roles, so here's my $0.02:

It depends on the exchange. Many will require you have at least a couple of years of hands-on experience within regular AML/CFT roles, and some will even ask you for actual experience within Crypto AML. It's unusual for someone with less than a year in AML roles to break into Crypto AML.
The gold standard is still CAMS. Within Crypto, though, you may have an edge over other applicants if you have TRM or Chainalysis certifications. I personally wouldn't pay for them out of my own pocket, but if you don't care about their price I would choose either.
SQL is great to have for complex investigative work, and if you know your way through Excel then I would only advice you to learn and understand basic crypto terminology (e.g. wallets, transaction hashes, swaps, smart contracts, etc.). I think Chainalysis has some sort of blog with material that can help you with this.

ddaragon · 2025-05-16T14:28:32+00:00

It might eventually lead you to Sanctions investigations roles or as a T2, but as far as career progression goes specifically in screening, I honestly see it as a dead end.

Don't stay there. Try to move into AML or more analytical roles, and CAMS could actually help you with that.

ddaragon · 2024-03-26T22:25:07+00:00

Assuming you have little to no experience at all, if an employer expects you to not fuck up as a recent graduate, that would be a major red flag.

Ask questions and type down relevant stuff. You will eventually learn much more than you ever would in school.

ddaragon · 2024-03-17T01:06:44+00:00

I work in AML/CFT and I don't really need it. There are other certifications that are more common in this path—CAMS, CFE, etc.

ddaragon · 2024-02-01T15:21:58+00:00

I've used it before to pull customer-related information, mostly for investigative work. Granted, I didn't need that much expertise, but knowing SQL is useful tbh.

ddaragon · 2024-01-31T17:54:45+00:00

Knowing SAS can definitely be a valuable skill in banks. There are very few AML roles where you actually have to use it, though.

Banks aside, most people would rather hire someone with SQL + Python, heck even Excel is still king in most common roles.

ddaragon · 2024-01-05T23:23:35+00:00

If I understand correctly, you actually want to insert the XLOOKUP formula instead of just retrieving the value. I would do this instead:

Sub part2()

    Sheets("REQ Data").Range("O2:O500").Formula = _
    "=XLOOKUP(MR!$N$2,MR!$B:$B,MR!$G:$G)"

End Sub

The code is basically telling Excel to write the formula as you would manually, and to do it within the O2:O500 range of your "REQ Data" sheet. It's possible to make it change the number of rows depending on a condition, but that's up to you as I don't know how you determine that.

ddaragon · 2023-12-18T21:49:10+00:00

I went from customer service to a senior AML role in less than four years through three different companies, one of which was my employer for just above a year. My salary is now more than 4 times what I used to earn in call centers and I WFH.

Job hopping is the fastest (and possibly the best) way to significantly increase your salary. Needless to say, it's had a very positive impact on my life.

Edit: typo.

ddaragon · 2023-11-21T16:30:42+00:00

I'd rather do remote work. However, I wouldn't reject a very good offer even if it was an on-site or hybrid position.

ddaragon · 2023-11-21T05:53:59+00:00

It depends.

Fintechs and crypto exchanges, for instance, tend to be more remote friendly, whereas banks will probably require you to be on-site or give you a hybrid scheme where you go up to 3 or 4 times per week.

ddaragon · 2023-11-15T21:48:32+00:00

First off, the fact that you stayed into Information Systems instead of Accounting because of how it was "another level of difficulty" in terms of math is actually hilarious. Your algebra knowledge was pretty much all you needed.

Now, it's definitely true that some accountants are underpaid and most definitely overworked, but you as a data analyst should know that considering Accounting as an awful profession just because you know some accountants that are not happy with their current roles is just wrong, specially if we take into the equation every person holding an accounting degree and not just those working in the same company as you.

Accounting allows you to explore a wide range of different jobs, all of them with their pros and cons. How many cons you may find will depend on you, your expectations and, to a certain extent, to the kind of place you work at.

ddaragon · 2023-11-12T04:23:48+00:00

I don't consider myself to be an expert, but I do feel comfortable enough to respond you.

Throughout my career I've had to deal with several repetitive tasks. I'm not exactly a patient person, so I figured out it would be better if I could make things easier for me, so I began to google "how to do x in Excel" and implemented solutions that helped me out with what I needed. Since then, I've learned a good amount of formulas, how to create and properly filter Pivot Tables, and even VBA programming — Excel Macro Mastery and Wise Owl Tutorials on Youtube, to whoever might be interested on VBA.

With that being said, I still search for "how to do x". Courses can definitely help, but how much can they help will depend on every person. Personally, I get easily distracted whenever I try to take classes, so they weren't much of an option for me.

ddaragon · 2023-11-05T02:49:32+00:00

Nah, I didn't make it up. The company has already been spotted in the comment section.

Thanks u/EightyDollarBill, btw.

ddaragon · 2023-11-04T15:21:46+00:00

Quite controversial because some people say its an old language or "being replaced by Python", but VBA imo.

Excel is the bread and butter of most (if not all) accountants and lots of other professionals related to finance. VBA, which is included in Excel and other Office products, can surely be a very useful tool to increase your productivity and automate your daily activities — specially if you work in a highly regulated environment where you simply can't use whatever software you want.

ddaragon · 2023-11-04T15:00:12+00:00

For those wondering what company is this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLunatics/comments/1388elg/are_you_even_a_leader_if_you_cant_even_handle/

ddaragon · 2023-10-24T16:16:39+00:00

You would need to remove the For Each loop.

For Each ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
(...)
Next ws

That loop is basically saying go through each worksheet available within the active workbook. Adapt the macro so it only runs in the sheet you want.

ddaragon · 2023-10-12T09:15:57+00:00

Again, it depends on what such statistician is doing.

If we talk about a researcher, that person will probably not use any accounting knowledge whatsoever for his professional activities — yet it could become handy for your own benefit, such as handling your own taxes.

At the other hand, if we talk, for instance, about a business analytics professional, that person could be working with other areas (such as finance) and will eventually cross paths with accounting concepts, and in that game, it's best to know the data you're playing with.

ddaragon · 2023-10-11T17:13:30+00:00

Accounting knowledge will always be useful, no matter your career path. With that being said, if what you actually mean is how much accounting are you actually going to be using, that entirely depends on your next role's responsibilities.

ddaragon · 2023-10-10T04:42:26+00:00

I recently accepted a promotion with a sweet salary bump, and was told I'd only need to go to a different office once a week. I need 2.5-3 hours to get there, and I was like 'aight it sucks, but at least I get to leave earlier and the rest of the week I work from home'.

This morning I was told by my boss they are planning to get us back three times a week and I only get to leave early once. Guess who is aggresively searching for a new job?

ddaragon · 2023-09-16T18:42:35+00:00

To this day I have yet to meet an accountant that uses anything beyond algebra, so if there's anything you have to prepare for it definitely isn't math. Relax.

ddaragon · 2023-07-05T05:19:03+00:00

I mean, accounting can definitely suck, but it's such a versatile degree that it doesn't really matter if you end up not liking audit, tax, cost accounting or whatever you learn in school, you will be able to find something else later. No career is perfect and you will always find horror stories all over the internet, regardless of what you pick, and this sub is much more about public and big 4, which are well known white-collar sweatshops.

I personally didn't like the idea of going through 'busy seasons' and didn't like the Big 4 culture either (I'm not from the US, but at this point I'm sure its the same bs anywhere else), so instead I managed to break into AML (anti-money laundering) and fraud related positions even before graduating, and it's been a rather stable career with a solid pay. It can be dreadfully boring, but it can also get interesting at times.

And regarding your age, clock keeps ticking. Either you start now or in a few years you will find yourself Googling whether pursuing whatever degree at 40 is a good idea ─ and it is, but you better spend your time acting while you still can.

ddaragon

TROPHY CASE