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 Better Work Reputation
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this idea that your reputation at work is something you build over years — like a sculpture that gets chiseled a little more every quarter. But what if you could just... move to a different room and start with a cleaner block of marble? Luna: I like that image. And I think a lot of people don't realize that an internal transfer doesn't just change your title — it changes who sees your work and how they interpret it. Lucas: Exactly. And that's our angle today: how an internal transfer can help you build a better work reputation. Not a promotion, not a salary bump — just a reset on how people perceive you. I've got a concrete case that really drives this home. Luna: Before you dive in — you know, I think there's a subtle point here that people miss. A couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these episodes coming — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. It's a small thing that makes a big difference for us. Lucas: Yeah, honestly, it's the listener support that keeps this show ad-free and focused on real stories like the one I'm about to tell. So if you've found value in the podcast, that's the place to throw in a couple bucks. Luna: Alright, let's hear the case. Lucas: So I was talking to a marketing manager named Priya. She works at a midsize tech firm — about 800 employees. She had been on the brand marketing team for three years, running social media campaigns, some content. Solid work, but she kept getting tagged as 'the social media person.' Luna: Right — that pigeonhole effect. Once you're known for one thing, it's hard to get people to see you as anything else. Lucas: Exactly. And in her case, it was hurting her. She had actually led a pretty successful product launch campaign — helped coordinate with product marketing on the messaging — but when the launch got praised, the credit went to the product marketing lead, not her. Her own team saw her as the person who schedules tweets. Luna: Ouch. So what did she do? Lucas: She applied for an internal transfer to the product marketing team. Same level, same pay — lateral move. But suddenly she was in meetings with the VP of product, the engineering leads, the sales directors. Within two months, her reputation had shifted from 'social media person' to 'the person who understands how to position a product.' Luna: It's almost like changing teams forced everyone to reassess her. Because the new audience had no preconceptions. Lucas: That's the key insight. When you transfer internally, you inherit a clean slate with the people in your new group. They haven't seen you mess up a campaign or get stuck in a rut. They only know your resume and your first few weeks of work. Luna: But doesn't your old reputation follow you? I mean, people talk. Lucas: They do, but it's surprisingly weak. Priya told me that in her first week on the new team, someone said, 'Oh, you used to do social, right?' And she just said, 'Yeah, but I've been focused on product messaging for the last year.' And that was it — the conversation moved on. Because people are busy, they update their mental model quickly. Luna: So the transfer itself becomes a signal. It says, 'I'm making a deliberate choice to be seen differently.' Lucas: Exactly. And there's another layer: Priya's old work actually looked better in retrospect. Once she was on the product marketing team, people started saying, 'Oh, that campaign she did? That was actually really smart.' The same work got reappraised because her new title changed the context. Luna: That's fascinating. So the reputation gain isn't just about new work — it's about reframing the old work. Lucas: Yes. And that's a huge advantage over leaving the company entirely. If you go to a competitor, you're starting from zero — nobody knows your past wins. But if you transfer internally, your old wins are still on file, they just get reinterpreted. Luna: I've seen this happen with engineers too. Someone who was 'the backend guy' moves to a data team, and suddenly everyone remembers that he built that scalable pipeline two years ago. Lucas: Right. The key is to pick a new team where your past work is relevant but not defining. Priya chose product marketing because she had already contributed to launches — she just needed the audience to see it. Luna: So what's the practical takeaway? If someone feels pigeonholed, what should they do first? Lucas: First, identify the stereotype that's sticking to you. Ask yourself: 'What's the one thing people say about me in meetings?' Then look for a team where that stereotype is irrelevant, but your actual skills are still valuable. It's a repositioning exercise. Luna: And you have to be willing to take a lateral move. Some people get hung up on title. Lucas: That's a mistake. Priya didn't get a promotion — same level, same pay band. But within six months, she was leading a product launch. Her reputation now is 'person who launches products.' If she had stayed on the brand team, she'd still be 'social media person' with maybe a senior title. Luna: So the transfer itself was the career move. Not the title change. Lucas: Exactly. And I think this is especially powerful for people in mid-career who feel like they've been type-cast. You don't have to leave the company to change the narrative — you just have to change the room you're in. Luna: One thing I'd add: when you transfer, be deliberate about how you introduce yourself. Don't lead with your old role. Say, 'I'm joining the product marketing team, and I focus on go to market strategy.' Lucas: Great advice. Priya actually did that — she had a kind of personal mission statement she used in every intro meeting. It helped anchor the new perception. Luna: Alright, so let's wrap with a question for our listeners: What's the one thing you're known for right now — and is it the thing you want to be known for? Lucas: That's the starting point. If the answer is no, an internal transfer might be your best tool to rewrite that script without starting over. Luna: Thanks for listening, and as always, if this helped you think about your career differently, consider supporting the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it really does make a difference. We'll be back next time with another internal move story.