Latest / Career Skills with Fexingo: Hard Skills, Soft Skills, and Future-Proofing Your Career / How to Use a Skills Audit to Find Your Next Career Move
Transcript
- Lucas: Let me start with a number: according to LinkedIn's 2025 workplace learning report, people who do a formal skills audit at least once a year are three times more likely to make a successful internal move or promotion. Three times. And yet most of us never do one. Luna: I think most people assume they know what they're good at. But when you actually sit down and write it out, it's surprising what you find. Lucas: Exactly. So today I want to walk through a real audit. Not a hypothetical. I've been talking to a marketing manager named Priya — she's in her early thirties, works at a mid-size SaaS company, and she's been feeling stuck. She thinks she wants to move into product marketing but isn't sure she has the skills. Luna: That's a common pivot. What did her current skill set look like? Lucas: We started with a simple inventory. I asked her to list every hard skill she uses at least quarterly. She came up with: campaign management in HubSpot, basic SQL for pulling audience segments, A/B testing, content writing for email and blogs, and Google Analytics. Then soft skills: stakeholder management, presenting to senior leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and time management across multiple campaigns. Luna: That's actually a solid base for product marketing. SQL and A/B testing are directly relevant. Lucas: Right. But she didn't see it that way because she was comparing herself to job descriptions that ask for 'product launch experience' and 'competitive intelligence.' So step two was benchmarking. I had her pull five product marketing job descriptions from companies she admires — think Asana, Canva, HubSpot itself — and we highlighted every skill that appeared in at least three of them. Luna: What were the most common ones she was missing? Lucas: Three big ones: product launch coordination, market research and persona development, and pricing strategy. She had zero experience with pricing. But here's the thing — she had adjacent experience. She'd run product-focused email campaigns that effectively launched features to existing customers. That's not a full product launch, but it's a starting point. Luna: So step three is the action plan. What did she decide to do? Lucas: She picked one gap to close first: market research. She's now volunteering to help her company's product team with customer interviews for their next feature release. That gives her direct experience, a talking point for her resume, and a internal proof point. She also signed up for a short course on pricing fundamentals from Reforge — not to get a certificate, but to actually learn the frameworks. Luna: I like that she didn't try to do everything at once. One gap, one concrete project. Lucas: That's the key. Most people either do nothing because the list feels overwhelming, or they try to learn five things at once and burn out. The audit is only useful if it leads to a single, specific next step. Luna: Can we talk about the inventory part a bit more? I think that's where people get stuck. They either list too broadly — 'I'm good with people' — or too narrowly — 'I know Excel.' Lucas: Great point. The trick is to be specific about context. Don't just say 'data analysis.' Say 'I analyze churn data monthly using SQL and present findings to the VP of Customer Success.' That specificity is what makes the audit useful. Because later, when you look at a job description, you can ask: does this role require analyzing churn data? If yes, you have a direct match. Luna: And if not, you at least know what's missing. So the audit becomes a gap map, not a self-esteem check. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing — I tell everyone to include skills they use outside of work. Priya runs a small book club and manages the group's scheduling and discussion facilitation. That's project management and facilitation. Those are real skills. Luna: I've seen people get jobs partly because of volunteer experience that demonstrates leadership. It's not just padding. Lucas: Alright, so let me give listeners a framework they can use this week. Three steps. Step one: inventory. Write down every hard and soft skill you use at work and outside, with context. Step two: benchmark. Pull three to five job descriptions for roles you want and list the skills that appear in most of them. Step three: action plan. Pick one gap, find a low-risk way to get exposure — volunteer, a short course, a side project — and do it. Luna: And revisit the audit every six months. Skills change, roles change, your interests change. Lucas: If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, I want to mention something honestly. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that literally funds making this many episodes. No ads, no sponsors — just people who find the show useful. Luna: Yeah, it's a small group, but it keeps us independent. We really appreciate that. Lucas: So if you've gotten value from an episode like this one, consider joining them. No pressure ever. Now, back to the audit — one nuance I want to add. When you benchmark, don't just look at skills. Look at the verbs in job descriptions. Do they say 'lead,' 'execute,' 'support,' 'advise'? That tells you the level of ownership expected. Luna: That's a smart filter. Priya's current role uses 'execute' a lot. Product marketing roles use 'define' and 'drive.' That's a different weight. Lucas: Right. So she needs to find ways to demonstrate strategic thinking, not just execution. That's why the customer interview project is smart — it puts her in a 'defining' role rather than an 'executing' one. Luna: What about soft skills? How do you audit those? Lucas: Harder, because they're subjective. I suggest using something like the 360 feedback you've already received. If you've ever had a performance review, look for patterns. 'Good at presenting' or 'needs to improve collaboration' — those are data points. Or ask a trusted colleague: 'What's one thing I do that helps teams work better?' Luna: And then map those to the job. A product marketing role might require 'influencing without authority.' If you've done that in a cross-functional campaign, that's a direct match. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing — don't forget to include domain knowledge. Priya knows SaaS metrics like monthly recurring revenue, churn rate, customer acquisition cost. That's not a skill per se, but it's valuable context. When you move into product marketing, knowing the business model speeds up your ramp time. Luna: So the audit isn't just about skills. It's about your entire professional context. Lucas: Right. And once you have that full picture, you can make a move with confidence. Priya now has a six-month plan. She's not applying yet. She's building the bridge first. Luna: That's the difference between a leap and a step. A skills audit turns a leap into a series of steps. Lucas: I'll leave you with this: the best time to do a skills audit is when you're not desperate for a job. Do it now, while you have time to fill gaps. When the opportunity comes, you'll be ready.