Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / How an Internal Transfer Helped One Employee Double Their Pay
Transcript
- Lucas: Let's start with a number that stopped me: someone at a Fortune 500 retailer more than doubled their total compensation in three years without leaving the company. Luna: Double? That's unusual for an internal move. Usually you hear about people jumping ship to get big bumps. Lucas: Right, but this person used two internal transfers strategically. First, they moved from a corporate operations role into a profit-center division — specifically, the company's e-commerce unit, which had higher margins and therefore higher salary bands. Luna: So the first move was about getting into a more valuable part of the business, not just a different title. Lucas: Exactly. The employee was a mid-level project manager making around $85,000 in total comp. The lateral transfer to e-commerce came with a modest raise — about 8 percent — but the real payoff was getting into a department where the top of the pay band for their role was $120,000 instead of $95,000. Luna: They were betting on future growth, not immediate cash. Lucas: And it paid off. After eighteen months, they applied for a senior project manager role in the same e-commerce division. That second internal move came with a 25 percent raise and a title upgrade that put them in a new pay tier entirely. Luna: So the first move set the stage, the second move captured the value. Lucas: Right. By the end of year three, their total comp was north of $170,000. But here's the crucial detail: they didn't just apply blindly. They spent months researching the company's internal compensation structure. Luna: How do you even get that data internally without looking suspicious? Lucas: They used a combination of tactics. First, they looked at job postings for similar roles in different divisions — some companies list salary ranges in internal postings. They also networked with peers in e-commerce during cross-functional projects and asked general questions about career growth, not specific salary numbers. Luna: Smart. They built relationships first, then gathered intel. Lucas: Yeah. They also talked to HR recruiters during informational interviews — not about their own comp, but about how the company determines pay for different functions. One recruiter mentioned that profit-center divisions had a higher comp ratio. Luna: Comp ratio meaning the percentage of the pay band midpoint they target? Lucas: Exactly. So this person knew that moving into e-commerce could eventually land them at 100 percent of a higher midpoint, whereas staying in operations would cap them at 95 percent of a lower one. That's a structural advantage, not a negotiating trick. Luna: It's almost like they treated the company as a portfolio of opportunities, not a single ladder. Lucas: Exactly. And they timed both moves around the annual performance review cycle. They applied for the first transfer two months before reviews, so their start date in the new role aligned with the new fiscal year — which meant they were eligible for the annual merit increase sooner. Luna: So they avoided the common trap of moving right after reviews, when you've just gotten a raise that might not transfer. Lucas: Right. Many companies cap salary increases on lateral transfers at 10 percent, and some even limit it to 5 percent if you're moving within the same pay band. But by getting into a higher band first, they set themselves up for a bigger jump on the second move. Luna: What about the common advice that you should only move for a title bump? This person's first move was lateral. Lucas: That advice is overly simplistic. A lateral move into a higher-growth division can be more valuable than a vertical move in a stagnant one. In this case, the lateral move gave them exposure to revenue-generating work, which made their resume — and their internal reputation — much stronger. Luna: And they got to build a network in a part of the company that was expanding. Lucas: Exactly. They volunteered for a cross-functional project with the e-commerce team before even applying. That project gave them a chance to demonstrate their skills and build relationships with the hiring manager. By the time the senior role opened up, the manager already knew them and trusted their work. Luna: So the second move wasn't a cold application. It was almost an internal promotion via transfer. Lucas: Exactly. And this is a key point: internal transfers can sometimes be easier than promotions within your own team, because you're not competing against the same pool of internal candidates. The e-commerce team had only three internal applicants for that senior role. Luna: And they had a relationship with the hiring manager, which is a huge advantage. Lucas: Right. Now, there's a cautionary side to this story. The employee told me they initially tried to negotiate a raise on the first transfer and almost lost the offer. The hiring manager said the budget was fixed. Luna: So pushing too hard could have killed the move entirely. Lucas: Exactly. They had to decide: take the modest raise and get into the division, or hold out for more and risk staying put. They chose the long game. And it paid off, but it required patience. Luna: I think a lot of people would have walked away thinking 'only 8 percent? Not worth it.' Lucas: And that's a mistake. If you're moving into a division with higher pay bands, the 8 percent is just the entry ticket. The real money comes from the next move. Luna: So the takeaway is: research the pay bands across divisions, target profit centers, use cross-functional projects to build relationships, and be willing to take a modest upfront gain for a bigger downstream payoff. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing: timing matters. The employee scheduled their first move to start in February, right after the company's January performance reviews. That way they were eligible for the next review cycle in just ten months instead of waiting a full year. Luna: Little optimizations that add up. Lucas: Right. Now, I want to step back for a second. We talk about these strategies on this show because we believe practical career advice should be accessible to everyone, not just people who can afford career coaches or premium newsletters. Luna: And that's exactly why we keep this podcast ad-free. No sponsors, no commercials, no paid segments. Just real stories and tactics. Lucas: If that approach resonates with you and you'd like to support it, there's a simple way: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it. No perks, no tiers, just knowing you're helping keep this resource open. Luna: And we really appreciate it. Now, back to the playbook — one other thing that stood out to me about this case is how the employee documented their contributions before each transfer. Lucas: Great point. They kept a running list of projects and metrics, and they shared it with the hiring manager during the interview process. That made it easy for the manager to justify the salary increase to HR. Luna: So they treated the internal interview almost like an external one, with a brag document and specific numbers. Lucas: Exactly. And they also got a written offer letter for the second transfer that explicitly stated the new salary and title. That's important because verbal promises can get lost in HR bureaucracy. Luna: So document everything, get it in writing. Lucas: Right. To wrap up: this case shows that doubling your pay without leaving your company is possible, but it's not about luck. It's about understanding your company's compensation structure, targeting the right divisions, building relationships, and being patient. Luna: And it's a reminder that sometimes the best career move isn't a leap — it's a series of well-planned steps. Lucas: Exactly. Next episode, we'll look at another internal transfer story — this time about someone who moved from a support function into product management. See you then.