How to Transfer Internally in a Company: Secrets for Success

So you’ve decided to look at how to transfer internally in your company. Maybe you are an engineer who has always dreamed of being a PM. Maybe you are in Talent Acquisition and want to become an HRBP. Or maybe you are navigating one of the 4 types or burnout.Whatever the case, navigating an internal transfer can be a path fraught with danger if it is not navigated correctly.

In fact, according to research by CEB and HBR, up to 40% of internal transfers end in failure!

Throughout my career, I’ve been able to successfully move between departments three times. These are the key points, I have learned along the way.

Rule 1: Never Cold Apply when you want to Transfer Internally

Don’t be an applicant, be a detective!

One of the worst things you can do when trying to figure out how to transfer internally in a company is to cold apply. If you find yourself logging into your company’s internal job portal and hovering over the apply button for a position in a different department, stop.

Instead, you should think of yourself as a detective. First, before you do anything, you need to understand the why the role is open and how the hiring team is thinking about it.

Rule 2: Transferring Internally Requires Networking Internally!

As a current employee, you have the ultimate resource which is internal access to the hiring team. If you are serious about looking at roles in a different department there are a few key steps that you need to do first to lay the groundwork.

• Start by meeting people in that organization and getting to know them. Do you understand what they care about and what the priority areas are for that organization? Do you have at least a few people within that organization who know you and the type of work you have done in your current role? If the answer to these questions is no, you need to change that through networking well in advance of applying for an actual role.
• Has anyone else made the kind of internal pivot you are looking to do (and if they haven’t do you know why not?)? If they have this your chance to connect with them to find out about how they were able to make the transition successfully and more importantly what their experience has been like since moving.

Rule 3: Get involved at the project level

Identify any cross-functional projects that you could be a part of that involve the team you are thinking to move to. These projects can form a crucial part of the “hidden” interview. If you are thinking about moving to a team that your team does not regularly work with, you may need to get creative. One option is to ask the new team what initiatives they have going on and simply asking how you can help.

Rule 4: Build the case for your internal transfer

It is quite possible that you might be the first person in your company to actually move between the team you are on and the team you would like to move to. To make a successful internal transfer, there are a few key process steps that you need to navigate.

• Make sure to express your desire to explore other teams to your current manager and possibly your department leader well in advance of attempting to transfer internally. If you invest the time to bring them on board, work on a shared timeline and help them see how this move could benefit them, they are far more likely to be supportive. If you surprise them or worse, if they hear about your application from HR or another leader that will likely not only derail your new opportunity but your current one as well.
• Understand that the other department and HR may not know how to handle an internal transfer. As surprising as it sounds, it is quite possible that there are two different career ladders and two different salary bands. It won’t always be clear how best to move an employee from one band to another. My advice is to show flexibility, communicate clearly that you want to make this move and that you want to work with the hiring team to figure out how to best make it happen.

Conclusion

When done successfully, an internal career pivot can be massively rewarding. Building upon the success you have already achieved in your current role, it can present a springboard to build your skills even further in an environment that you are already familiar with. With this knowledge, that is how to transfer internally in a company.

If you are thinking about making an internal transfer at your company, let’s talk about it!