Latest / Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers / How to Use a Career Reverse Engineering Strategy
Transcript
- Lucas: So you know how sometimes you look at a job posting and think, 'I could do that, maybe, in a few years' — but you're not quite sure how to get from here to there? Luna: Yeah, it's that gap between what you have on your resume and what they're asking for. It can feel kind of daunting. Lucas: Exactly. And most people handle that by just applying and hoping. But there's a much more deliberate approach called career reverse engineering. Instead of waiting for the right job to appear, you start with the end — the job you want in, say, five years — and then work backward to figure out exactly what you need to learn, do, and build between now and then. Luna: I love that. It's like a GPS for your career instead of just wandering. Lucas: Right. And the first step is to find a specific job description for a role you'd love to have. Not a vague idea — an actual posting. Let's say you're a senior marketing manager today, and you want to become a VP of Marketing at a mid-size B2B SaaS company in five years. Go on LinkedIn and find three real VP of Marketing postings from companies you admire. Luna: And then what? Do you just read them and feel bad about all the things you don't have? Lucas: No — you analyze them systematically. You copy each requirement and break it into categories: skills you already have, skills you partially have, and skills you don't have at all. Then you look for patterns across the three postings. Usually, you'll see the same five or six requirements repeating. Those are your non-negotiables. Luna: Like what, for a VP of Marketing? Lucas: Typically: experience leading a team of at least five, a track record of hitting pipeline and revenue targets, expertise in demand generation and content strategy, budget management, and cross-functional leadership with sales and product. Plus maybe something specific like experience with a certain stage of company — say, from Series B to Series C. Luna: Okay, so you've identified the gaps. Then what? Lucas: You create a 12-month learning plan. For each gap, you find a concrete way to close it. If you lack direct management experience, you volunteer to lead a project team or become a mentor in your company's internal program. If you need revenue accountability, you ask to manage a P&L for a small product line or a specific channel. And you document all of it. Luna: That sounds really intentional. But what about the stuff you can't learn on the job? Like industry-specific knowledge. Lucas: That's where informational interviews come in. You reach out to people who already hold the role you want and ask them: 'What did you need to learn that wasn't in the job description? What surprised you?' I did this when I was trying to break into business journalism. I found a reporter whose career I admired, and she told me the single most important skill was writing a clean story on deadline every day. So I started a blog and committed to publishing 500 words every weekday for six months. Luna: That's dedication. Did it work? Lucas: It did. That blog became my portfolio. When I applied for my first reporting job, I could show them 120 published pieces. It made the gap on my resume irrelevant. Luna: And if today's episode was useful to you — if you're thinking about doing something similar — the way we keep this show ad-free is through listener support. You can head to buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo and toss a few bucks in the jar. It helps us keep producing episodes like this without any sponsor interruptions. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small way to say 'this helped me,' and we really appreciate it. Now, back to the reverse engineering — let's talk about timelines. You don't need to close every gap at once. Prioritize the ones that are hardest to learn or that appear most frequently in the job postings. Luna: And what if you're in a field where job descriptions are vague? Like in creative roles or startups. Lucas: Then you look at people, not postings. Find five people who have the title you want, look at their LinkedIn profiles, and note the common threads in their career history. What companies did they work at? What projects did they highlight? What certifications or skills do they list? That's your de facto job description. Luna: So you're building a composite picture. I like that. Lucas: Exactly. And once you have that composite, you can start mapping your own experience against it. Maybe you notice that all five people had a stint in a fast-growing startup before becoming VP. That tells you something about the kind of experience that matters in that industry. Luna: What about the risk of over-planning? I've seen people spend months analyzing job descriptions and never actually apply for anything. Lucas: That's a real danger. Reverse engineering is a planning tool, not a procrastination device. I'd set a rule: spend no more than two weeks on the analysis phase, then move into action. If you find that a gap requires a skill you can't develop in your current role, that's when you start looking for a new job that offers that skill. Luna: So the reverse engineering can also tell you when it's time to leave. Lucas: Exactly. If your current role can't give you the experience you need — like managing a budget or leading a team — then your career plan should include a lateral move or a step down to get that experience. I've seen people take a lower title to get a skill that vaulted them into a much higher role later. Luna: Let's talk about the 'how' of documenting your progress. Do you recommend keeping a portfolio or just a list? Lucas: I recommend a simple document — call it your career roadmap. List each gap, the action you're taking, the timeline, and a way to measure success. For example, if your gap is 'people management,' your action might be 'lead the quarterly campaign planning team,' with a success metric of 'deliver the campaign on time and within budget, with at least two junior team members giving positive feedback.' Then update it quarterly. Luna: And you review it with a mentor or a peer? Lucas: That's ideal. Accountability helps. I'd also recommend sharing it with your manager in a one-on-one. If your manager is good, they'll help you find opportunities to close those gaps. If they're not, at least you've planted the seed that you're thinking about growth. Luna: One thing I'd add: don't get so focused on the destination that you ignore detours. Sometimes a role you never considered ends up being the perfect stepping stone. Lucas: Great point. Reverse engineering gives you a direction, not a railroad track. You can adjust as you learn more. Maybe after six months, you realize you actually want to be a Chief Revenue Officer instead of VP of Marketing. That's fine — you just redo the analysis for the new target. Luna: And the skills you've been building are probably transferable anyway. Lucas: Exactly. The core skill sets — leadership, strategic thinking, data analysis, communication — those are rarely wasted. So even if you pivot, you're not starting from zero. Luna: So if someone is listening right now and wants to start, what's the first concrete step they should take today? Lucas: Go to LinkedIn, search for the job title you want in five years, open three postings, and copy-paste every requirement into a spreadsheet. Then categorize each as 'have,' 'partial,' or 'gap.' That's it. That's your starting point. Don't overthink it. Luna: I like that. It's actionable immediately. Lucas: And if you do that today, you'll have a clear picture of where you stand by the end of the afternoon. Then tomorrow, you can start building your 12-month plan. Luna: Alright, I'm going to try this myself. I've been thinking about moving into a more editorial leadership role, and I've been too vague about what that actually requires. Lucas: Let me know what you find. I bet the gaps are smaller than you think. Luna: I hope so. Thanks for unpacking this, Lucas. Lucas: My pleasure. That's it for today. Go reverse engineer something.