Latest / The Promotion Memo with Fexingo: Getting Visibility, Sponsors, and Executive Presence / How One Employee Got Promoted by Creating a Career FAQ
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this tactic I keep seeing people use to get promoted, and it's almost too simple to take seriously at first. But the results are pretty striking. Luna: Okay, I'm curious. What is it? Lucas: A career FAQ. An internal document where you answer the most common questions people have about career development inside your company. Not a generic HR document — something you personally write, based on what you actually hear from colleagues. Luna: Like a frequently asked questions list about how to navigate your specific organization? Lucas: Exactly. I first saw this work about two years ago. A marketing manager at a Fortune 500 — let's call her Priya — she was at the senior associate level, trying to get to senior manager. She'd been in the role for about four years, doing solid work, but she wasn't getting the visibility she needed with the people who made promotion decisions. Luna: Right, which is the classic problem. You do good work, but no one outside your immediate team knows about it. Lucas: Exactly. So she sat down and thought about what questions she kept hearing from junior team members — people one or two levels below her. Questions like, 'How do I know if I'm ready for a promotion?' or 'What skills should I build to move into a product role?' or 'How do I get on a high-visibility project?' Luna: These are exactly the kinds of things that don't have clear answers in most companies. Lucas: Right. HR has formal job descriptions, but no one tells you the unwritten rules. So she collected the top 20 questions, wrote straightforward answers based on her own experience and what she'd seen work for others, and then she asked a trusted mentor to review it. Luna: What kind of feedback did she get? Lucas: The mentor pointed out a few areas where her answers were too vague, and suggested she add specific examples. For instance, instead of saying 'volunteer for stretch assignments,' she wrote, 'Look for projects that have visibility with the VP of your division. One example: the annual planning process usually needs extra hands.' Luna: That makes it actionable. So after she revised it, what did she do with it? Lucas: She published it on the company intranet. Not as an official HR document — just as a personal resource. She titled it something like 'Career Questions You Might Be Afraid to Ask.' And then she shared the link in a couple of internal Slack groups and with her team. Luna: And how did people respond? Lucas: Within a week, it had been viewed over 300 times. People started tagging her in messages saying, 'This is exactly what I needed.' She got a shout-out in an all-hands meeting from a senior leader who said, 'I wish someone had made this when I was starting out.' Luna: That's huge. Suddenly she's seen as a thought leader, not just someone who does their job. Lucas: Exactly. Within three months, she was invited to join a cross-functional talent committee — exactly the kind of group that has influence over promotions. Six months later, she was promoted to senior manager. Luna: So the FAQ itself wasn't the direct cause, but it was the trigger that got her in front of the right people. Lucas: That's how I see it. And this isn't a one-off story. I've heard variations from people in engineering, finance, even HR. The core principle is the same: identify a knowledge gap that matters to your colleagues, fill it publicly, and let your name become associated with that value. Luna: One thing I like about this approach is that it's completely within your control. You don't need a budget or a manager's permission. Lucas: Exactly. You just need to know what people are confused about and be willing to share what you know. And you don't have to be a senior person to do it. In fact, I think it's often more powerful when someone who's recently figured things out shares their perspective. Luna: If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, and you want to support the show staying ad-free, we keep it going through listener support at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, that's right. It's a simple way to help us keep doing what we do, without any ads or sponsors. We really appreciate it. Luna: So let's talk about how to actually build a career FAQ. What are the key steps? Lucas: First, listen. Pay attention to the questions people ask in meetings, in Slack, in one-on-ones. Write them down. You want the real questions, not the ones you think they should ask. Luna: And prioritize. You don't need to answer everything. Pick the 15 to 20 questions that come up most frequently or that seem to cause the most confusion. Lucas: Right. Then for each question, write a short answer. Keep it to two or three paragraphs max. Include specific examples where you can. And be honest about what you don't know — it's okay to say 'I'm not sure, but here's who you could ask.' Luna: Then get a second pair of eyes. A mentor, a trusted peer, someone who can tell you if you're missing something or if any answer could be misinterpreted. Lucas: Strongly agree. Especially if you're sharing anything about how the organization really works. You want to be accurate and fair. Luna: What about format? Should it be a Google Doc, a PDF, a Notion page? Lucas: I'd say keep it simple. A Google Doc or a company wiki page is fine. The key is that it's easy to share and easy to update. Because you'll want to revise it as you learn more. Luna: And how do you get it in front of people without seeming self-promotional? Lucas: Share it naturally. If someone asks a question you've answered, say, 'I actually wrote something about that — here's a link.' Or mention it in a team meeting: 'I put together a list of common career questions, feel free to check it out.' You're offering help, not selling yourself. Luna: I think there's also a version of this that works even if you're not sure you have all the answers. You could create a collaborative FAQ where you invite others to contribute. Lucas: That's a great point. It turns it from a solo project into a community resource. And it still puts you at the center as the person who started it. Luna: One thing I'd add: don't let it get stale. If you create a FAQ and never update it, it can actually hurt your credibility. Set a reminder to review it every quarter. Lucas: Good advice. Priya told me she updated hers every time she learned something new, or when the company changed a process. It became a living document. Luna: So what's the biggest mistake someone might make with this approach? Lucas: I think the biggest mistake is trying to answer questions that are above your pay grade — like compensation strategy or layoff criteria. Stick to career development topics where you have direct experience. If you speculate on things you don't know, you'll lose trust. Luna: And the second big mistake is probably making it about yourself. The goal isn't to show off how much you know — it's to genuinely help people. Lucas: Exactly. The promotion is a side effect, not the goal. If you approach it as a way to serve your colleagues, the visibility follows naturally. Luna: I'm curious — have you seen anyone do this in a smaller company, say under 100 people? Lucas: Yes, actually. A friend of mine worked at a 50-person tech startup and created a FAQ about how to navigate the engineering promotion process. It got shared with the whole company, and the CTO started asking him for input on career ladders. He ended up leading the redesign of the entire engineering growth framework. Luna: So the same principle scales up and down. It's really about identifying a pain point and solving it. Lucas: Right. And the beauty is, you don't need a big title or a big team. You just need to observe, write, share, and iterate. Luna: I think this could work for almost anyone, regardless of role or level. Have you thought about trying it yourself? Lucas: I actually have. I'm working on one for podcasting careers — how to move from production to hosting, how to pitch yourself as a guest, things like that. I'll let you know how it goes. Luna: I'd love to see it. And if our listeners want to share their own career FAQ stories, we'd love to hear them. Lucas: Absolutely. That's it for this episode of The Promotion Memo. We'll be back next week with another specific strategy for getting the visibility you deserve.