Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How an Internal Transfer Can Help You Build a Reputation as a Problem Solver
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this moment in every career where you realize your reputation is something you can shape, not just something that happens to you. And an internal transfer is one of the most underused tools for that. Luna: Yeah, people usually think about transfer for a better title or a raise. But reputation, that's a different angle. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to look at how a lateral move can help you build a reputation as a problem solver, specifically. Not just a competent worker, but the person people come to when something's broken. Luna: I love that. And we have a concrete case, right? The analyst at a regional bank. Lucas: Right. So let's call her Sarah. She was a financial analyst at a midsize regional bank in the Midwest. Not a flashy role. She ran reports, checked reconciliations, pretty standard stuff. Luna: And she wanted to move into the bank's new fintech unit, which was more interesting and growing fast. Lucas: But here's the thing. She didn't have a fintech background. She had zero coding experience. What she had was a reputation problem in reverse. People saw her as a reliable number cruncher, but not someone who could build something new. Luna: So she used an internal transfer to rebrand herself as a problem solver. How? Lucas: Three steps. First, she identified a specific problem in her current team that was visible to people in the fintech unit. There was a data integrity issue in the legacy system that was causing errors in the feeds the fintech team relied on. Luna: So she basically found a bridge problem. Something her current skills could fix, but that mattered to the team she wanted to join. Lucas: Exactly. Step two: she solved it. She spent about three weeks building a better reconciliation script in Excel and some basic SQL. She didn't need to be a developer. She just needed to make the data cleaner. Luna: And step three, she broadcast it internally, but not in a braggy way. She documented the fix and shared it with both her manager and the fintech lead. Lucas: Right. She basically said, 'Hey, I noticed this problem, here's what I did, and I think it could help your team too.' That's the key. She didn't ask for the transfer then. She just demonstrated value. Luna: And that changed the narrative. Instead of being 'the report person,' she became 'the person who fixed the data feed.' Lucas: And when a position opened in the fintech unit three months later, the fintech lead reached out to her directly. She didn't even apply through the formal system. It was a lateral move, same pay grade, but she went from a back-office reporting role to a product analytics role. Luna: That's a huge win. But I think a lot of people worry that solving a problem outside your scope could make your current manager upset. Like, you're not doing your job. Lucas: That's a real risk. And Sarah navigated it by keeping her manager in the loop. She framed it as a efficiency project that would save her own team time. Which it did. Her manager saw it as initiative, not disloyalty. Luna: So the framing matters as much as the solve. Lucas: Absolutely. And if we've helped you think through a career move like this, or even just given you a new way to frame your own situation, we want to mention something quick. Luna: Yeah, we keep these episodes ad-free on purpose. It's a choice we made because we think the content is more useful without interruptions. Lucas: And if that choice matters to you, the best way to support it is through listener support. There's a link at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a way to keep the show independent. Luna: No pressure at all. We're just grateful you're here. And now back to Sarah's story. Lucas: So after she made the move, she had to cement that reputation. She didn't rest on the one fix. She went into the fintech unit and immediately looked for another visible problem. Luna: Which is smart because one success can be a fluke. Two successes start to look like a pattern. Lucas: Exactly. She found that the new team had no standardized way to track feature requests from internal stakeholders. It was all ad hoc emails. Luna: Classic problem. Low hanging fruit for someone who's organized. Lucas: She built a simple Airtable base, documented the process, and shared it. Within a month, the VP of product was referencing her system in a department meeting. That's the kind of visibility that changes your career trajectory. Luna: So the internal transfer wasn't the end goal. It was the platform she used to build a new professional identity. Lucas: Right. And this approach works even if you're not trying to move into a hot new unit. Maybe you're in a stagnant role and you want to be seen as someone who can turn things around. Luna: Or maybe you made a mistake in your current role, and you need to rebrand. Like we talked about in episode 115. Lucas: Exactly. The same principle applies. Identify a problem that matters to the people you want to work with, solve it in a way that showcases a skill they value, and let the reputation change happen naturally. Luna: One thing that stands out to me is that Sarah didn't wait for permission. She just saw something broken and fixed it. That's a proactive mindset. Lucas: And that's the core of being seen as a problem solver. It's not about having a fancy title or a certification. It's about noticing what's broken and having the initiative to address it. Luna: But there's a caution here too. If you solve a problem that's actually someone else's job, you can step on toes. How do you avoid that? Lucas: Great question. Sarah was careful to choose problems that were clearly unowned. The data integrity issue had been complained about for months but no one owned the fix. The feature request system was just a gap. Luna: So you want to look for orphan problems. Things everyone complains about but no one is assigned to fix. Lucas: Exactly. And if you're not sure, ask a trusted colleague. Say, 'I'm thinking about tackling this. Would that step on anyone's toes?' Most people will tell you honestly. Luna: And then once you've built that reputation, the internal transfer becomes almost a formality. People want you on their team. Lucas: Right. And that's the ideal scenario. You don't have to sell yourself. Your work speaks for itself. Luna: But let's talk about timing. How long should you stay in your current role before trying this move? Lucas: There's no hard rule, but Sarah had been in her role for about 18 months. That's enough time to understand the landscape but not so long that you're seen as stuck. Luna: And she didn't jump immediately after the first fix. She waited for the right opening. Lucas: Yes, patience matters. You want to build a track record, not just a single data point. And you want to make sure the problem you solved is actually recognized by the people who matter. Luna: So, to recap: find an orphan problem, solve it visibly, share the solution, and let the reputation percolate. Then when the transfer opportunity comes, you're already the obvious choice. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's a much more sustainable way to advance your career than just applying to every internal posting and hoping your resume stands out. Luna: Yeah, it's more strategic. It's about shaping how people perceive you before you even ask for anything. Lucas: And the beauty is, this works whether you're in a cubicle or a corner office. The fundamentals are the same. Luna: I'd love to hear from listeners who have tried something similar. If you've used a problem-solving approach to land an internal transfer, let us know. Lucas: Absolutely. And if you're thinking about making a move, start looking for that orphan problem today. It might be the thing that changes everything.