Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Lateral Moves Can Double Your Salary and Reset Your Career
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this idea that if you want to change careers, you have to start over. Go back to school, take a bootcamp, accept a junior salary, climb the ladder again from the bottom rung. Luna: Yeah, the 'reset' narrative. It's scary, and it's expensive. Not everyone can afford a year of no income while they retrain. Lucas: Right. So today I want to talk about a path that gets way less attention but might be one of the smartest career moves you can make: the lateral move. Switching roles within the same company, or at least within the same industry, but into a function that changes your trajectory. Luna: Lateral moves. I've seen that term used a lot, but usually people think it means 'more of the same, just a different desk.' How is it different? Lucas: It's not 'more of the same.' It's deliberately moving into an adjacent function where your existing institutional knowledge gives you a head start. Think about it: you know the company, the products, the culture, the politics. You're not starting from zero. You're starting from, say, 50 percent of the way there. Luna: So you skip the 'getting to know you' phase. That alone could save six months. Lucas: Exactly. And the data on compensation is actually pretty striking. A study from LinkedIn a couple of years ago found that internal moves — lateral or promotional — resulted in a median salary increase of 15 to 20 percent. For external hires, the median bump was closer to 10 percent. Luna: Wait, really? Conventional wisdom says you have to leave to get a raise. Lucas: That's the wisdom for big jumps. But if you're making a lateral shift into a new function, you're not going from analyst to VP. You're going from marketing manager to product manager. The company knows you can deliver, so they're willing to pay you near-market rate for the new role, rather than discounting you because you're 'junior.' Luna: So the risk is lower for them, and they share some of that benefit with you. Lucas: Exactly. And there's another angle: the 'startup lag' I mentioned. A study by the Corporate Executive Board — now part of Gartner — found that external hires take about 18 months to reach full productivity. Internal moves take about 6 months. That's a year of higher output sooner, which is valuable to the company, and it's valuable for your career momentum. Luna: So the internal lateral move is actually more efficient for everyone. I want to dig into a real example. You mentioned a case? Lucas: Yeah. I talked to a woman named Priya — she was a marketing manager at a regional bank in the Midwest. She was good at her job, but she was bored. She wanted to move into product management. Now, a product management bootcamp would have cost her around $15,000, plus she'd have to quit or take a sabbatical. Luna: Plus the opportunity cost of lost salary. That's easily a six-figure decision. Lucas: Instead, she spent six months shadowing the product team, learning their tools, and then pitched her boss on a lateral move. She said, 'I know our customers better than any external hire. I've run campaigns for our mobile app. Let me be the product owner for the app.' Luna: And they went for it? Lucas: They did. She moved laterally from marketing manager to associate product manager. Same level initially, but within three years, she'd been promoted twice and was making 40 percent more than when she started in marketing. No bootcamp, no tuition, no career break. Luna: That's a powerful story. But I imagine not every company is as supportive of internal moves. Lucas: That's true. Some companies hoard talent. They don't want to lose a good marketing manager to another department. But the trend is shifting. A report from the Society for Human Resource Management found that 87 percent of organizations now say internal mobility is a priority. They're creating formal programs, internal job boards, rotation programs. Luna: So the environment is actually getting more favorable for this approach. Lucas: It is. And it makes sense. The company has already invested in you. They've paid for your onboarding, your training, your benefits. They know your work ethic. If you can fill a role that's hard to hire for externally, it's a win for them. Luna: Let me play devil's advocate. What if you're in a dying industry? The regional bank example — banking is consolidating. What if your company is shrinking? Then a lateral move within the same firm might be moving from one sinking ship to another. Lucas: Fair point. That's the risk. But you can apply the same logic to an industry lateral move. Say you're a financial analyst at a traditional retail company. Retail is under pressure. But you've got skills in forecasting, Excel, maybe some SQL. You could lateral into a similar role at a tech company or a healthcare firm. Luna: So the industry changes, but the function stays similar, and you leverage your domain knowledge from one sector to another. Lucas: Exactly. The key is to identify the 'portable' parts of your job and target roles that value those skills. A study from Harvard Business Review showed that people who made lateral moves across industries actually had higher long-term earnings growth than those who stayed in the same industry. Luna: Because they diversified their experience. They became more adaptable. Lucas: Right. So the lateral move isn't just about staying put. It's about strategically changing your trajectory without resetting to zero. And it's a path that's especially relevant for listeners who are thinking about a bootcamp or a full career change but are worried about the cost. Luna: That's actually a great segue to something I've been thinking about. We talk a lot on this show about reskilling programs and bootcamps — and they can be great. But a lateral move can be a free alternative, or at least a low-cost trial run. You get to test a new role without quitting your job. Lucas: And if we've helped you think through a career move or decision, whether it's a lateral move or a full pivot, I want to mention something quickly. This podcast is ad-free, and it stays that way because of listeners like you who chip in a small amount. Luna: Yeah, it's a couple of dollars a month for some people, and it genuinely makes a difference. We've had listeners say they sent in five bucks just because an episode helped them land a job. Lucas: So if you've gotten value from the show, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just if it's made a difference for you. Luna: And now, back to lateral moves. Lucas, you mentioned Priya's story. What about someone who's early in their career, maybe just two or three years in? Can they benefit from a lateral move? Lucas: Absolutely. In fact, early career is a great time to do a lateral move because you haven't specialized too much yet. You can try different functions and find what you're good at. I've seen junior analysts move into data engineering, sales people move into customer success, marketers move into product. Luna: The key is to build relationships. You can't just send an email saying 'I want to move.' You need to network internally, show interest, maybe do a side project. Lucas: Exactly. Priya shadowed the product team for six months. She attended their stand-ups, learned about their roadmap, and then she volunteered to help with user research. She built credibility before she asked for the move. Luna: So the lesson is: don't just ask for the lateral move. Prepare for it. Treat it like a job search, but within your own company. Lucas: Right. And it's worth noting that the lateral move doesn't always come with an immediate raise. Sometimes it's a flat salary or even a small cut. But the long-term payoff, as Priya showed, can be huge. Luna: So the message is: before you sign up for a bootcamp or start applying to completely new industries, look around where you are. See if there's a path you haven't considered. Lucas: Exactly. The next big career move might be down the hall, not across the internet. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Thanks for listening.