How to change jobs within your company?
Once you find a company in which you feel good, there is no reason for you to start looking elsewhere. However, it is possible the satisfaction or challenge with your current position comes to an end. You might wonder if there are specific interview questions or tips to change your job.
The natural thing to do in this case, is to search inside of your current company for a new job. Having access to internal information can give you a competitive advantage on another candidate but if not used, it can also get you off the list of the potential candidates.
You will find in this article the important steps to take to stand out from others and convince the hiring manager that you are the right job candidate.
1: Tell your manager you want to apply for this job
Let your manager know that you want to apply for this position before you talk to anybody else in the company, if you have a performing manager, this one may actually help you going through the job interview preparation by connecting you with the job position manager or stakeholders or giving you feedback on your interview preparation.
2: Compare the job description on the market
Get to know its value, what the day to day tasks look like and what type of skills are required. The same applies for a company promotion, you need to be fully aware of the new job position conditions.
3: Pause for a minute and understand if this position is made for you
No need to jump on any job opening in your company, other job openings may come and may potentially be more suitable for your career plan and set of skills. Ensure that you believe in your motivation and you are ready to go for it.
4: List the people you will be working with in the job.
During your preparation, once you have fully understood what are the requirements and you are convinced that this is the right move for you and your career, and that you will know how to change jobs. Start by listing the stakeholders that are going to be important in your new job position. The advantage is, you already are in the company. If you are working in a big company, you may need to do some research, talk to several people or look at the organigram.
What is important here is to fully understand which people will be influencing the decision making and with whom can you already connect and get input on the job position.
Now what you will do is set up a first list, with at least 1 or 2 people who will have low influence on the decision making but have a good understanding on the job you apply for.
Set up some time with them in person or on the phone, and let them know that you are interested by the job but you want to make sure you understand the entire scope and for this reason you would like to know what they think will be the necessary skills and attributes of the perfect job candidate.
Most people appreciate to be asked for opinion.
From the first conversations, you will be able to understand if:
You have understood the entire scope of the job and its responsibilities.
What are the skills to promote during your job interview?
You will be able to confirm if you have not forgotten any people that may be influencing the decision-making process.
Now that you have confirmed the information you need and talked to your stakeholders, select the most important ones. The idea here, is not to go and inform the entire company, this could create the opposite effect and could make some people reluctant to your application.
However, you want to talk to the 1 or 2 important stakeholders, which will be able to tell you what they need and what type of candidate they picture for this position. By doing so, you already let them know that you are interested in the position and you get information on what is important to show case in the job interview. You may then be more informed to prepare for an interview.
Here are a couple of questions you may want to ask:
What is the strategic development behind this position?
How do you see this person adding value to your organization?
How do you want this person to be different from the skills you already have in your team?
Are there any specific projects or objectives that are currently pending until the position is fulfilled?
What are the objectives for this job?
Also seek for advice on how to stand out from other candidates. This way, you do not only get great information to prepare yourself, but you already demonstrate that you are going through the preparation process and your motivation is real.
5: Prepare a presentation
The very last step of your preparation is to gather all the information you have within your engagement conversation and combine it with your experience and skills in a presentation.
Very rarely, you will be asked to prepare a content for the first round, but here you are inside of the company and you already have access to stakeholders, key metrics, job content, strategies. When you arrive in the job interview, you have a chance to stand out from other internal or external candidates.
Prepare a presentation and include the following information:
Slide 1: Who you are?
Even if you know the hiring manager, this person may not be aware of everything you have accomplished in your career, refresh it a little bit by giving an overview of your personality, your experience and background, promoting the specifics ones you have acquired and that will serve the job you are applying for.
Slide 2: Why do you think you are the right candidate for this job?
If you have run your small conversation with your stakeholders, you know what to say here. List first, what skills are important to perform the job and give an example from your experience where you have had to use those skills. Also mention the reduced effort the hiring manager will need to do to onboard you as you are already aware of the company policy, process and way of working.
Slide 3: Provide an overview on your action plan with a 30 60 90 days overview.
What actions you will be taking in the first days in your new position and how you will be pro-actively working on making it valuable. In this way the hiring manager is able to see your working style, the type of investment you are taking and understand that you have done your homework, getting on paper all the necessary projects, objectives and stakeholders for this open position.
This part of your presentation is important in your job interview process because it will make your hiring manager feel great about your application. The hiring manager has for objective to hire the right candidate, this means the one that is pro-actively working on making the role successful and achieve objectives. This is an important step for validating the job candidate. The same tip will apply to career promotion.
Slide 4: Demonstrate how you will measure your success
One of the final slides is about the metrics and the way you will measure you are on track to achieve your objective or achieve your action plan. Demonstrate that you will be open to feedback and you will be, by yourself tracking your objectives and make the necessary adjustment when necessary.
Slide 5: What support you will need or challenges you will encounter
The point of this presentation is not to look like the “without
weakness candidate” but to look authentic and highly prepared to come forward with the challenges of your new role. List how you want your manager or team to support you to be successful in this role and challenges that you foresee experiencing.
For the challenges do not forget to mention how you will overcome these.
After you introduction, the first days action plan, the measure of your success, if the hiring manager remains with doubts, you will erase it by showing that you have also thought about the type of support you need and what challenges you will need to anticipate and work on.
Many employees stay 10 years, 20 years sometimes even more in the same company, the truth is that being already working in the company gives you a competitive advantage compared to external candidates. However, the hiring manager knows this as well and the expectations that you research on the job and inform yourself about the job and day to day task, stakeholders etc. will also be there.
Taking additional steps in your job interview when you apply internally will also be a factor to get promoted. Coming with the same type of answers as an external candidate will probably get you off the potential candidates list.
If you want to get further tips, practice your interview, or get feedback on your presentation. You can reach out to The Ambitious.
If you want to read more on job interview, check out our professional blogs: