Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Mid-Career Marketers Use Internal Mobility to Land Promotions
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — a tactic you tried, a framework you borrowed, maybe a salary number you brought into a negotiation — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it's small amounts from people who find value. We keep it ad-free that way. Lucas: Exactly. So, internal mobility. It's one of those topics that sounds boring on paper, but when you dig into the numbers, it's actually one of the fastest paths to a promotion for mid-career marketers. I was looking at data from a Fortune 500 company — let's call them Company A — that in 2025 cut their external hiring by 40 percent and instead focused on moving people internally. And the marketers who moved internally got promoted, on average, 20 percent faster than external hires. Luna: Twenty percent faster — that's significant. But I imagine most marketers don't even think about internal moves. They just start looking externally. Lucas: Right. There's this assumption that the only way up is out. But Company A's data shows that internal hires also earned about 8 percent more within three years compared to people who left and came back. The reason is you don't lose your institutional knowledge, your relationships, your internal brand. You can hit the ground running. Luna: So what does that look like in practice? How do you actually position yourself for an internal move without just waiting for a job posting? Lucas: Great question. The first thing is job shadowing. Not the informal 'hey can I sit in on your meeting' kind, but structured programs. Company A had a formal job shadowing program where you could spend two days per quarter with a team you were interested in. You'd attend their stand-ups, review their dashboards, even sit in on client calls. The marketers who did that were three times more likely to apply for an internal role within six months. Luna: Three times more likely — that's a huge lift. And I imagine it also helps you figure out if you actually want that role before you commit. Lucas: Exactly. It's low-risk exploration. The second piece is the internal job board, but not just passively browsing. You need to set up alerts for specific keywords. A lot of mid-career marketers miss roles because they don't update their internal profile. Company A found that candidates who had a complete internal profile — with a summary, skills, and a headshot — were 70 percent more likely to be contacted by hiring managers. Luna: Seventy percent — that's just basic housekeeping. What else? I imagine manager sponsorship plays a big role. Lucas: Huge. And this is where you can't just be a high performer quietly. You need your manager to actively advocate for you. At Company A, they had a formal sponsorship program where senior leaders would sponsor two or three high-potential employees per year. The sponsors would introduce them to other leaders, recommend them for stretch assignments, and actually put their name forward for open roles. Marketers with a sponsor were promoted internally at four times the rate of those without. Luna: Four times. That's almost unfair. But how do you get a sponsor if you don't have one? Lucas: You have to be visible. Volunteer for cross-functional projects. Present at all-hands meetings. Publish insights on the internal blog. The key is to make your work visible to people above your manager. Company A's data showed that employees who presented at least once per quarter to a VP or above were 50 percent more likely to be identified as high-potential. Luna: So it's about building your internal brand. That's almost like marketing yourself inside your own company. Lucas: Exactly. You're the product. And the internal job market is your market. The third piece is skills-based hiring. More companies are moving away from strict title requirements and toward competency assessments. Company A removed degree requirements for all internal roles in early 2025. Instead, they used skills assessments and project-based interviews. That opened up a lot of roles for marketers who had the skills but not the traditional background. Luna: That's huge for mid-career marketers who might have pivoted from a different function or who learned on the job rather than through formal education. Lucas: Right. So if you're a content marketer who's done a lot of data analysis but don't have 'analyst' in your title, you could apply for a marketing analytics role internally. The skills assessment would let you demonstrate your capability. Company A reported that the number of internal moves by marketers without a four-year degree increased by 60 percent in the first year of that policy. Luna: Sixty percent. That's a real shift. So what's the first step for someone listening who wants to start leveraging internal mobility? Lucas: First, update your internal profile today. Add a summary that highlights your key projects and skills. Second, set up job alerts for roles you're interested in, even if you're not ready to apply. Just seeing what's out there gives you a sense of what skills you need to build. Third, schedule a conversation with your manager about your career path. Ask specifically about stretch assignments or shadowing opportunities. You don't need to announce you're looking to leave — just signal that you're interested in growth. Luna: And what about the risk? Some managers might see internal mobility as disloyalty. Lucas: That's a real concern. But Company A's data actually showed that managers who supported internal moves had higher retention rates on their own teams. When you help someone grow, even if it's into another role, they're more likely to recommend you as a leader. And in companies with strong internal mobility cultures, managers are evaluated partly on how many of their people get promoted — internally or externally. Luna: So it's actually a positive signal. One last thing — how do you know if your company even has a real internal mobility culture? Lucas: Look at the numbers. Ask HR or check the intranet for internal hiring rates. If less than 30 percent of roles are filled internally, your company probably doesn't prioritize it. But you can still create your own path by building visibility and relationships. And if you're at a company that does have strong internal mobility, like Company A, take full advantage. The data is clear — it's one of the fastest, most lucrative ways to advance your career. Luna: Yeah, I think a lot of marketers underestimate how much leverage they have inside their own organization. Great episode.