Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Mid-Career Marketers Use the Career Pivot Roadmap
Transcript
- Lucas: So I want to talk about something that came up in a conversation I had last week with a friend who's been a brand manager at a midsize CPG company for about eight years. She's good at her job — her last campaign lifted category share by about three points — but she told me, 'I think I want to pivot into product marketing in tech.' And she had no idea where to start. Luna: That's a big jump. Brand management and product marketing share some DNA, but the day-to-day is pretty different. Lucas: Right. And she's not alone. A lot of mid-career marketers hit a point where they feel like they've maxed out in their current lane, or the industry they're in is shrinking, or they just want a new challenge. But pivoting without a plan is risky. So today I want to walk through a framework that I've seen work — a career pivot roadmap. Luna: I love this. Give me the structure. Lucas: It's a four-phase process. Phase one is assess — you take a hard look at your current skills, your values, and what you actually want. Phase two is explore — you research target roles and industries, talk to people, validate assumptions. Phase three is prepare — you close skill gaps, build a portfolio piece, update your LinkedIn. Phase four is launch — you start applying and networking with a clear narrative. Luna: That sounds sensible, but I wonder how many people actually do it in that order. Most people I know skip straight to launch — they update their resume and start firing off applications. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the failure rate is high. There's actually some data from LinkedIn's 2025 'Career Transitions' report — they surveyed about 4,000 professionals who attempted a career pivot. Among those who spent at least four weeks in an assessment and exploration phase before applying, the success rate — meaning they landed a role in their target field within 18 months — was 62 percent. Among those who jumped straight to applications, it was 38 percent. Luna: That's a massive gap. So the roadmap isn't just theory — it's correlated with better outcomes. Lucas: Yeah. So let me break down each phase with specifics. Phase one: assess. This is where you inventory your hard skills — your technical marketing skills — and your soft skills. My friend, the brand manager, she has deep consumer insights experience, she's run multi-channel campaigns, she's managed agencies. She's also got strong storytelling and presentation skills. But she's never worked with a product roadmap, never done A/B testing on a landing page, never used SQL or a CRM tool like Salesforce. Luna: So the skill gap is real. And that's the point of assess — you can't fix what you haven't named. Lucas: Right. And you also need to get clear on your values. Is it more money? More autonomy? A different industry? For her, it was about wanting to build something from scratch rather than polish an existing brand. That's a values insight that helps you target the right roles. Luna: Okay, so phase two — explore. What does that look like in practice? Lucas: This is where you do informational interviews. Not to ask for a job — to learn. You find five to ten people who have the title you want, in companies you admire, and you ask them: what does a typical week look like? What's the hardest part of your job? What skills do you use most? What would you have done differently to prepare? You're basically doing primary research on the role. Luna: And you can do that through LinkedIn, alumni networks, industry events. I've found that most people are surprisingly willing to talk if you're respectful of their time. Lucas: Absolutely. My friend did twelve informational interviews over six weeks. She talked to product marketers at HubSpot, Asana, and a couple of B2B SaaS startups. What she learned was that the job varied a lot by company size. At a startup, product marketing is very execution-heavy — you're writing launch copy, building sales decks, running beta tests. At a larger company, it's more strategic — you're defining messaging frameworks, conducting competitive analysis, influencing the product roadmap. Luna: That's gold. Because then she can decide which environment fits her better. The startup role might be more hands-on, which could be a faster learning curve but less strategic depth initially. Lucas: Exactly. She decided she wanted a mid-size company where she could have both. So phase two gave her a target. Phase three is prepare. This is where you close the skill gaps you identified in phase one. For her, the biggest gaps were: no experience with product roadmap tools like Jira or Aha, no experience with A/B testing, and no familiarity with SaaS metrics like monthly recurring revenue or churn. Luna: So how do you close those gaps without quitting your job? Lucas: You do a side project. She picked a specific product — a project management tool she used and liked — and she built a fake product launch plan for a new feature. She created a messaging document, a competitive landscape, a go to market timeline, even a sample sales enablement deck. Then she put it on her portfolio site. That gave her something to talk about in interviews. Also, she took a short online course on SaaS metrics — maybe ten hours total. Luna: That's smart. It shows initiative and it gives you concrete evidence of your skills. Employers love seeing a portfolio piece over just a resume bullet point. Lucas: Right. And she also updated her LinkedIn profile to reflect her new direction. She changed her headline from 'Brand Manager at XYZ' to 'Brand Manager transitioning into Product Marketing | Focus on B2B SaaS.' And she started posting about product marketing topics — sharing articles, commenting on posts. That got her on the radar of recruiters. Luna: Phase four — launch. How did she approach that? Lucas: She applied to about 25 roles over eight weeks. But she also reached out to people she'd interviewed in phase two and let them know she was looking. Two of them referred her internally. That's huge — referrals dramatically increase your chance of getting an interview. In the end, she got three interviews, two final rounds, and one offer — a product marketing manager role at a series B fintech company. Luna: That's a great outcome. And the whole process — from assessment to offer — how long did it take? Lucas: About five months. Which is realistic. The LinkedIn data I mentioned earlier — the 62 percent success group averaged five to seven months. So it's not instant, but it's not years either. Luna: I think the hardest part of a pivot is the emotional toll. You're trading competence for beginner status. Even if you're strategic about it, there's a period where you feel like an impostor. Lucas: That's true. And that's why the roadmap matters — it gives you a structure so you don't feel like you're flailing. Each phase has a clear goal. When you're in assess, you're gathering data. When you're in explore, you're learning. When you're in prepare, you're building. By the time you launch, you've already done most of the hard work. Luna: One thing I'd add: don't underestimate the value of a peer group. Having one or two other marketers who are also pivoting — or who have pivoted — can make a huge difference. You can hold each other accountable, share leads, vent. Lucas: Great point. That's essentially a mini personal board of advisors. Speaking of which — if these career conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own pivot, or even just a new way of thinking about your path, that's the kind of thing that makes this show more than just background noise. Luna: Yeah. And if today's episode was worth a coffee to you, there's a simple way to say that. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just an option if you want to support keeping this ad-free. Lucas: Exactly. And that support really does help us keep doing episodes like this one — deep dives into practical career tools. So thanks for considering it. Now back to the roadmap. Luna: So after she got the offer, what was the transition like? Any surprises? Lucas: She said the first three months were intense. She had to learn the product, the customer base, the company's data infrastructure. But because she'd done her prep — the side project, the courses — she wasn't starting from zero. She could speak the language. Her manager told me later that she was ramped faster than most new hires because she'd already internalized the product marketing mindset. Luna: That's the payoff. The roadmap isn't just about getting the job — it's about being ready to succeed once you're in it. Lucas: Right. And I think that's the key takeaway for any mid-career marketer considering a pivot: don't just update your resume and start applying. Take the time to assess, explore, and prepare. It's not a delay — it's an investment in your next chapter. Luna: I want to go back to the assess phase for a second. What's the best way to actually do that skill inventory? I've seen people use spreadsheets, but they end up listing everything and nothing. Lucas: I recommend a two-column approach. Column one: skills you use daily and feel confident in. Column two: skills that appear in job descriptions for your target role that you don't have. Then you prioritize column two by frequency — if every product marketing job description mentions 'competitive analysis' and 'messaging frameworks,' those are your top gaps. And be honest about your column one. Don't list 'strategic thinking' if you can't give a concrete example of it. Luna: I like that. It's specific. And it forces you to look at actual job postings, which is research you should be doing anyway. Lucas: Exactly. And the second part of assess — values — you can do with a simple exercise. Write down three times in your career when you felt most energized and engaged. Then identify the common threads. For my friend, it was times when she was launching something new, working cross-functionally, and having direct impact on the product. That pointed her toward product marketing. Luna: So the roadmap is really about intentionality. You're not just reacting to a job posting — you're designing your next move based on data about yourself and the market. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's what separates a successful pivot from a frustrating job search. The roadmap gives you agency. You're not waiting for someone to pick you — you're building a case for why you're the right person for a role you've deliberately chosen. Luna: One last thing: what about the people who are earlier in their career — say, two to three years in — and they're thinking about a pivot? Does the same framework apply? Lucas: I'd argue it applies even more. Early-career marketers often have fewer transferable skills, so the assess phase is critical. You might need to invest more time in preparation — maybe a certification, a side project, or even taking on a stretch assignment in your current role. But the structure is the same. And the timeline might be shorter because you have less to unlearn. Luna: Good point. So whether you're five years in or fifteen, the roadmap is adaptable. It's a process, not a formula. Lucas: Right. And the best time to start is when you feel the itch, not when you're desperate. Because when you're desperate, you skip steps. You take the first offer. You settle. The roadmap helps you avoid that. Luna: I think we've given listeners a lot to work with. A concrete framework, real numbers, a specific story. If you're thinking about a pivot, start with phase one this week. Lucas: And if you want a template for that skill inventory or the values exercise, we'll post it in the show notes. For now, thanks for listening — and good luck with your pivot.