Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Marketers Can Use a Career Pivot Map
Transcript
- Lucas: So the other day a friend of mine, she's a brand manager at a consumer goods company, she told me she's been quietly miserable for about eighteen months. Not the work exactly, more the feeling that she's outgrown it. And she's been sending out resumes to like, every job that mentions 'brand' and getting nowhere. Luna: That sounds like the classic 'I know I want out but I don't know into what' trap. Lucas: Exactly. And she asked me for advice, and I ended up walking her through something I've been calling a career pivot map. It's basically a one-page visual that forces you to connect three things: your current skills, the parts of the work you actually enjoy, and where the market is pulling. And I want to break it down today because I think it's way more useful than the usual 'follow your passion' advice. Luna: I love this. Because it sounds like a structured way to avoid just jumping to a lateral move that doesn't fix anything. Lucas: Right. The first step is a skills inventory, but not the boring list you'd put on LinkedIn. You write down every skill you've used in the last three years, then rate each one on two scales: your proficiency and how much you actually like using it. So my friend, she listed things like project management, data analysis, campaign planning, vendor negotiation, even something like 'creating presentation decks'. Luna: And I'm guessing the ones that score high on proficiency but low on enjoyment are the red flags. Lucas: Yes, those are the things you do well but they drain you. For her, it was vendor negotiation and budget tracking. She could do them in her sleep, but they made her dread Mondays. The second part is the interest grid. You list the aspects of your work that give you energy, not the tasks, but the underlying themes. So not 'email marketing' but 'understanding customer behavior' or 'crafting a narrative around a product'. Luna: So it's about the why behind the what. Lucas: Exactly. And then the third layer is the market demand overlay. You look at job postings, industry reports, even LinkedIn data on where roles are growing. For her, she noticed that a lot of customer experience roles were opening up, and they required skills she already had, like mapping customer journeys and segmenting audiences, but she'd never thought of herself as a CX person. Luna: So the map is what reveals those hidden paths that you wouldn't see if you just search for 'brand manager' jobs. Lucas: That's the key insight. She built her map and it showed three possible pivot paths: one into customer experience, one into product marketing, and one into insights and analytics. She could literally see that CX was the closest overlap between her high-enjoyment skills and market demand. It wasn't a huge leap; it was a pivot. Luna: And that's so different from the typical advice to start from scratch or go back to school. Lucas: Yeah, because the map is built from what you already have. It's not aspirational; it's strategic. And the best part is it doesn't take weeks. You can sketch it in an afternoon with a spreadsheet and a few job postings. Luna: Okay, but I want to push back a little. Isn't there a risk of over-planning? Like, you map everything out and then you're paralyzed because you see too many options? Lucas: That's a fair point, and I've seen it happen. The map is a filter, not a decision. It's meant to narrow your focus, not to give you a five-year plan. You still have to test it with low-risk experiments, like informational interviews or a small project in the new area. The map just makes sure you're not randomly flailing. Luna: That makes sense. And for our listeners who might be in that same spot—stuck but not sure where to go—what's the first concrete step? Lucas: Honestly, just start with the skills inventory. Don't even think about the market yet. Just list everything you've done in the last few years and rate it. You'll be surprised at what pops out. And if you find that exercise valuable, maybe consider supporting the show so we can keep having these conversations. Luna: Yeah, if today's episode was worth a coffee to you, you can drop us a tip at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's what keeps this podcast ad-free. Lucas: Right, no pressure. But it does help. So back to the map. Once you have your skills inventory, you rate your enjoyment, and then you look at the market. And the trick is to combine all three into a simple grid. On one axis, you put your skills, and on the other, you put potential roles or industries. Then you shade the cells where you have both high proficiency and high enjoyment, and you see which roles have the most shaded cells. Luna: So it's like a heat map for your career. Lucas: Exactly. And my friend, she shaded her cells and customer experience lit up. She'd never even considered it, but she had all the analytical skills from her market research work, plus the communication skills from presenting to executives. So she started doing informational interviews with CX leaders, and within three months she had an internal offer to lead a CX initiative in her own company. Luna: Wow, that fast? It makes sense though, because she wasn't starting from zero. She was repackaging her existing experience. Lucas: And that's the real value of the pivot map. It gives you permission to see your skills in a new context. Too often we get boxed in by our job titles. The map is a tool to break out of that. Luna: So what are the common pitfalls? I'm guessing one is focusing only on skills and ignoring what you actually like. Lucas: Yes, that's a big one. The other is ignoring market demand. You could love something and be great at it, but if nobody's hiring for it, it's not a pivot, it's a hobby. And the third pitfall is what I mentioned earlier: confusing a pivot with a promotion. A pivot is a change in direction, not just a step up the same ladder. Luna: That's a subtle but important distinction. Because a promotion can feel like a move but actually keep you in the same lane. Lucas: Exactly. So when you're building your map, you're not looking for the role with the highest title, you're looking for the role that maximizes your enjoyment and market demand. Sometimes that means a lateral move, or even a step down in title, to get into a better growth area. Luna: I've seen that happen a lot in marketing. People move from brand to growth or from content to product, and they take a title hit but end up with way more upside. Lucas: Right. And the map helps you see that trade-off explicitly. You might realize that a role has a lower title but scores higher on your enjoyment and demand grids, and that's the smarter play. Luna: So how do you actually build this map? Is there a template or a tool? Lucas: I usually suggest starting with a simple spreadsheet. You can create a three-column table: skill, proficiency, enjoyment. Then add a fourth column for 'market demand' based on your research. Then you sort by enjoyment and demand, and you'll quickly see which skills are your golden tickets. For the visual map, you can use a simple grid with skills on one axis and potential roles on the other, and shade the intersections. Luna: That's very doable. And you mentioned informational interviews—how do those fit in? Lucas: Once you have a shortlist of roles from your map, you reach out to people who do those roles and ask about their day-to-day. Not for a job, just to understand the realities. That's how you validate whether your map is accurate or if you're missing something. My friend, she had a few conversations that made her realize CX wasn't just about data, it was also about stakeholder management, which she actually enjoyed. Luna: So the map is a living document, not a one-time exercise. Lucas: Definitely. You should revisit it every six months or whenever you feel that itch again. Because your skills and interests change, and the market does too. The map is a tool to keep your career on your terms. Luna: I love that. So what's the one thing you want our listeners to take away from this episode? Lucas: If you're feeling stuck, don't just update your resume and start spraying it everywhere. Take an afternoon to map your skills, your interests, and the market. That small investment can save you a year of going down the wrong path. Luna: And if you want to learn more, we'll link to a simple template in the show notes. Lucas: We'll put together a basic spreadsheet you can copy. And hey, if you build your own pivot map, we'd love to hear how it goes. You can reach us on social media at Fexingo. Luna: Until next time, keep mapping.