Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Marketers Use a Career Opportunity Radar
Transcript
- Lucas: So a listener named Priya wrote in last week with a question that's been rattling around in my head. She's a brand manager at a consumer goods company, and she's been there for four years, but every time she looks at job boards, she feels like she's either not qualified for the next step up, or the only roles that match her title are at other consumer goods companies doing the exact same thing. Luna: That's such a common trap. We get so anchored to our job title that we stop seeing the other ways our skills could move. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what we're going to get into today. A tool I've seen work really well is what I call a career opportunity radar. It's a way to map out the moves you could make that aren't just the next rung on the ladder. And I think it directly answers Priya's feeling of being stuck. Luna: So walk us through it. What does the radar actually look like? Is it a drawing, a spreadsheet, something else? Lucas: Think of it as a simple two-by-two grid. On one axis, you've got familiarity of the industry, from familiar to new. On the other axis, familiarity of the role, from familiar to new. That gives you four quadrants. Same role, same industry is the center, and each quadrant represents a different type of move. Luna: Okay, so the four zones are like adjacent skills, adjacent industries, both, or neither, I'm guessing. Lucas: Right. Let's label them. Quadrant one is familiar industry, familiar role — that's just a lateral move at another company, or a promotion. Quadrant two is familiar industry, new role. Quadrant three is new industry, familiar role. And quadrant four is new industry, new role — the big jump. Luna: So the radar is really about filling in each quadrant with actual opportunities, not just generic categories. Lucas: Yes. You want concrete examples for each. Let's take Priya. She's a brand manager at a consumer packaged goods company. For quadrant two, familiar industry, new role, she might look at product marketing at a tech company that sells to consumer goods, or maybe insights and analytics, or even a sales enablement role. The industry is still familiar because she knows how retail works, but the function is new. Luna: And quadrant three, new industry, familiar role. That could be, I don't know, brand manager at a startup in a totally different sector, like fintech or health tech. Lucas: Exactly. And quadrant four, the big jump, could be something like product manager at a tech company — new industry, new role. That's the one that feels scariest, but it's also where the biggest growth often is. Luna: So you're not saying she should go jump into quadrant four tomorrow. The radar is more about scanning the horizon, right? Lucas: That's the point. You're not committing to any move. You're just building a map of what's out there. And the act of filling in each quadrant forces you to think beyond the job posting that matches your exact title. Luna: I remember when I was at the agency, I felt really pigeonholed as a digital marketing specialist. But when I sat down and thought about it, I realized my skills in analytics and client communication were super transferable. That's how I made the move to the client side. Lucas: That's a perfect example. You used your radar without calling it that. And that's what we want listeners to do — start seeing their skills as a portfolio that can travel across industries and roles. Luna: So how do you actually populate the radar? Like, what's the practical step-by-step? Lucas: Start with a blank grid. Then, for each quadrant, brainstorm at least three to five opportunities. Use job boards, LinkedIn, but also talk to people. Ask friends in other industries what their marketing teams struggle with. That's often where you find the quadrants you'd never see on a job board. Luna: And you should probably be doing this even when you're not looking for a job, right? Like, the best time to build a radar is before you need it. Lucas: Exactly. That's the key. If you only do this when you're desperate, you'll be too reactive. But if you build a radar once a year, maybe during your career portfolio review, you're always aware of your options. Luna: So this ties into some of the other things we've talked about, like the career portfolio review and the career skills matrix. This is like the future-looking part of that. Lucas: It fits right in. The portfolio review asks what you've done. The skills matrix asks what you're good at. The opportunity radar asks what you could do next. It's the forward-looking piece. Luna: One thing I want to push back on though — doesn't this kind of contradict the idea of a five-year plan? I've heard you talk about how plans are overrated, and this radar feels a bit like the opposite of that. Lucas: Good challenge. The radar isn't a plan, it's a map. A plan says 'I'm going to be a VP in five years.' A map says 'here are the paths I could take, and I'm curious about these two.' It's about keeping your options open, not committing to one route. Luna: So it's more about direction than destination. Lucas: Exactly. And here's a concrete example. I was talking to a marketer last month, Sarah, who had been a senior email marketer for six years. She felt stuck, but when we mapped her radar, she realized she had project management skills, data analysis skills, and was really good at persuading stakeholders. That opened up a whole new quadrant she hadn't considered — marketing operations. Luna: And that's a role that's growing a lot, especially in tech companies. So she didn't have to start from zero. Lucas: No, and that's the beauty of it. You're not learning a whole new discipline; you're recombining existing skills in a new configuration. And the radar helps you see those configurations. Luna: I also want to mention that the radar isn't just for individual contributors. I've seen managers use it to think about their team's development too. Like, who on my team has potential for a sideways move that would stretch them? Lucas: That's a great extension. It's a career tool for individuals, but it's also a talent development tool. And if you're a manager, you can use it to have more interesting conversations with your reports. Luna: So back to Priya. What would you say to her specifically? Like, she's feeling stuck. What's the first step? Lucas: I'd say, don't start with the grid. Start with a list of your top ten skills and the top three industries you're curious about. Then map them onto the radar. That's the fastest way to fill it in. Luna: And if she finds that one quadrant is completely empty, what does that tell her? Lucas: It tells her she's not aware of any opportunities there, which could mean she needs to do more research, or that it's a blind spot. Either way, it's useful information. Luna: This is one of those episodes where I feel like I'm learning something I can actually use. And I have to say, if you're listening and you've gotten something out of our conversations, whether it's this radar or a previous episode, a dollar or two a month makes a real difference to us here at Fexingo. It keeps the show ad-free and helps us keep digging into topics like this. If you can, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, but it genuinely helps. Lucas: And we don't say that lightly. It's listener support that lets us keep this going. Anyway, back to the radar. One last thought: the best time to build one is before you need it. So maybe this weekend, grab a piece of paper, draw your grid, and just start filling it in. You might be surprised what you uncover. Luna: And if you do, I'd love to hear about it. You can find us on social, but no pressure. We'll be back next week with another tool to add to your career toolkit.