Feeling Stuck? Why a Lateral Career Move Might Be the Smartest Play
Contents
What Is a Lateral Career Move—and Why Should I Care?
How Can a Lateral Move Help Me Get Unstuck at Work?
Isn’t a Lateral Move Just a Step Sideways (or Back)?
What Skills or Opportunities Can I Gain from a Lateral Shift?
When Does It Make Sense to Make a Lateral Career Move?
How Do I Explain a Lateral Move on My Resume or in Interviews?
What Should I Say in a Lateral Move Interview?
Can a Lateral Move Hurt My Salary or Career Progression?
How Do I Know If I’m Ready for This Kind of Change?
What Should I Do Next If I’m Considering a Lateral Move?
Conclusion
If you're feeling stuck in your career, a lateral move could be exactly what you need. A career lateral move is when you transition to a new role or position at the same level within your company or industry, rather than moving vertically to a position with a higher salary or responsibilities.
How Can a Lateral Move Help Me Get Unstuck at Work?
Isn’t a Lateral Move Just a Step Sideways (or Back)?
What Skills or Opportunities Can I Gain from a Lateral Shift?
When Does It Make Sense to Make a Lateral Career Move?
How Do I Explain a Lateral Move on My Resume or in Interviews?
What Should I Say in a Lateral Move Interview?
Can a Lateral Move Hurt My Salary or Career Progression?
How Do I Know If I’m Ready for This Kind of Change?
What Should I Do Next If I’m Considering a Lateral Move?
Conclusion
If you're feeling stuck in your career, a lateral move could be exactly what you need. A career lateral move is when you transition to a new role or position at the same level within your company or industry, rather than moving vertically to a position with a higher salary or responsibilities.
The benefits of moving laterally in your career include the chance to learn new skills or different aspects of your industry to boost your long-term career growth and professional development. Rather than seeing it as a setback, look at lateral moves in your career as strategic opportunities to improve your versatility, career mobility, and ability to adapt to different work environments.
Ideally, this process helps you move towards closer alignment with your interests and goals. Understanding what is a lateral move in a career will help you take advantage of what can be a strategic move in your career trajectory.
What Is a Lateral Career Move—and Why Should I Care?
A lateral career move involves shifting to a new role that is at the same hierarchical level as your current position. Unlike vertical moves that often include a promotion with increased responsibilities or pay, a lateral move broadens your experience and skills. The emphasis here is on exploring different areas of the business, tackling new challenges, and improving your professional versatility rather than focusing only on upward mobility.
Why should you care? Lateral moves enable you to acquire new skills and build new networks, which is crucial for long-term career development and employee growth.
The ability to work cross-functionally and solve problems with a versatile skill set are of increasing importance in today’s ever-changing work environment. Since lateral moves encourage adaptability and continuous learning, they show you are making an investment in your long-term career path that helps you stay relevant.
Moreover, lateral moves can help prevent feelings of stagnation and reduce burnout by introducing fresh challenges and perspectives. These opportunities for internal mobility pave the way for future promotions or new career directions aligned with your professional aspirations.
How Can a Lateral Move Help Me Get Unstuck at Work?
When you feel trapped in your current role, a lateral move in your career vs a vertical move allows you to build new routines and take on fresh challenges. This can renew your enthusiasm and improve your job satisfaction by broadening your perspective and learning about different parts of the business.
Besides the change of scenery, learning a new job can help you build a more versatile and diverse skill set. Expanding your capabilities can translate into greater opportunities in the future by making you highly valuable to employers looking for cross-functional working styles.
Lateral moves can also help you build connections with new colleagues and mentors to expand your professional network. These new relationships can open you up to new opportunities or promotions that might not come up in your current role. Exposure to different leadership styles also deepens your understanding of different roles and how they contribute to the overall success of the company.
Ultimately, a lateral career move is more than a change in job title; it’s an opportunity for continuous learning that builds adaptability and long-term career resiliency to reinvigorate your professional journey.
Isn’t a Lateral Move Just a Step Sideways (or Back)?
It’s easy to look at a lateral move as a step sideways or even backward, but that neglects the strategic advantages of exploring new areas within your company or industry. Even if it doesn’t come with an immediate promotion or raise, broadening your expertise will enhance your long-term career prospects.
Lateral career moves emphasize multidirectional growth in a “career lattice,” which increases your skill set and versatility through adapting to diverse roles.
Lateral moves also open opportunities to engage with new leaders, teams, and workplace cultures, which can open doors to future promotions or roles that better align with your evolving career aspirations. While these changes can enhance your job satisfaction, they also demonstrate to employers your willingness to learn and step outside your comfort zone, which are highly valued abilities in today’s dynamic work environment.
So don’t think of a lateral move as a setback or that it means restarting the learning curve. Instead, view it as a way to boost your professional growth, avoid burnout, and set the path for long-term success.
What Skills or Opportunities Can I Gain from a Lateral Shift?
A lateral career move provides an excellent opportunity to explore new areas of the business, build your current skills, and gain new ones. An example of a lateral move could be transitioning from a technical role to a client-facing position. This type of move would allow you to strengthen your interpersonal and communication skills.
Moving sideways like this develops your learning agility, a highly valued trait that demonstrates adaptability and commitment to continuous development. You might work with different teams, leadership styles, and workflows, improving your cross-functional collaboration abilities and understanding of various roles in your company.
Gaining experience in lateral shifts increases your versatility to tackle new challenges and projects and contributes to your personal career growth.
Ultimately, lateral moves give you a broader perspective, positioning you as a valuable collaborator and problem-solver, setting you up for future promotions.
When Does It Make Sense to Make a Lateral Career Move?
If you want to develop new skills and your current role doesn’t offer room for growth or upward mobility, a lateral move can strengthen your long-term career prospects. It might also be the right choice for you if you want to learn about different parts of a business or industry.
A sideways move into a similar position at a different company might also be the right choice if your work or environment isn’t fulfilling or if current company culture, leadership, or values don’t align with your personal and professional priorities. However, don’t use lateral moves as an escape route, or you’ll be repeatedly restarting your learning curve without improving your skills. It’s important to stay in your new position long enough to learn, contribute meaningfully, and make an impact.
Once you consider how a new role fits into your goals and desired career path, including whether it enhances your skill set, you might find that a lateral move is the key to getting unstuck and moving forward in your career.
How Do I Explain a Lateral Move on My Resume or in Interviews?
It’s important to emphasize how a lateral move enabled you to acquire new skills, expand your expertise, or take on different responsibilities relevant to the role you’re pursuing. Frame it as a deliberate and strategic step in your career development. Illustrate how the shift demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning and personal growth. If the lateral move is within the same company, emphasize your adaptability and describe how you navigate new challenges or cross-functional projects.
On your resume, use action verbs and quantifiable results to highlight accomplishments that demonstrate how you successfully applied your skills in a different context. Always tailor these points to align with the job you’re targeting.
In interviews, be prepared to explain your goals and why you felt the lateral move was the best choice. Highlight any new skills or perspectives you developed and how they align with your long-term career goals.
Intentionality, versatility, and an ability to grow are qualities employers value and that you can convey by articulately describing a purposeful lateral move.
Framing your lateral move from a proactive perspective signals to employers that you’re committed to expanding your capabilities. This alleviates concerns about a perceived lack of upward movement and brings the focus back to your readiness to progress.
What Should I Say in a Lateral Move Interview?
When thinking about what to say in a lateral career move interview, it’s important to clearly explain what attracted you to this opportunity. This can include gaining new skills or broadening your experience to enhance your contribution to the company or industry.
Focus on transferable skills and experience that equip you for the new role, highlighting any relevant successes that demonstrate your qualifications. Demonstrate your adaptability by expressing your understanding of the differences between the two roles and your interest in learning new skills and processes.
Be sure to frame the lateral move as part of a planned career path rather than a fallback option to address why you’re not seeking a vertical promotion. Explain how the lateral move supports your long-term career growth, highlighting intentionality and focus.
You can show interest while also evaluating how the position aligns with your goals by asking thoughtful questions about mentorship, training, and the scope of responsibilities in the new role. If you’re moving internally, describe your collaborations with other teams and be prepared to share what you’ve learned about the company’s overall operations.
Be confident and enthusiastic about your ability to contribute in the new role, and present your lateral move as a step towards intentional career growth and professional development.
Can a Lateral Move Hurt My Salary or Career Progression?
Generally, lateral moves are at the same level without immediate raises, but they don’t necessarily hurt your long-term earning potential. That said, a lateral move might still be financially worthwhile for improved benefits like healthcare, retirement plans, or flexible work options.
Since lateral moves are less about immediate promotion than building skills and experiences that can increase your future opportunities, they are still a strategic investment in your long-term career growth.
Always evaluate whether a lateral move aligns with both your career goals and financial needs. It’s important to consider the company’s stability, potential for future advancement, and how the new role fits into your broader career plan before you decide if it’s the right choice for you.
How Do I Know If I’m Ready for This Kind of Change?
To decide if you’re ready for a lateral career move, think about your current job satisfaction, if you’re willing to learn new skills, and if you want to broaden your experience. If you feel stuck in your current role, whether it’s because you aren’t fully using your talents or because there is a lack of potential for upward mobility, it could indicate you're ready to consider a lateral shift.
A willingness to step outside your comfort zone demonstrates the kind of learning agility required to thrive in various roles. This is highly valued by employers and makes you a strong candidate for future advancement. This type of adaptability is a sign that you’re ready to pursue lateral moves.
It’s also important to consider practical readiness, such as job stability and company culture. If your current department is downsizing or has limited growth, a lateral move might offer greater job security.
And, of course, if your company’s culture or leadership doesn’t align with your career goals, you might be ready to transition laterally to a similar role elsewhere.
Ultimately, assessing your readiness to transition laterally requires analyzing your long-term career goals and identifying learning and growth opportunities that align with them. Lateral moves are strategic investments in your professional development that can position you for future success.
What Should I Do Next If I’m Considering a Lateral Move?
The first step in planning a lateral move is clarifying your goals and priorities so you know what skills or experiences you want to gain. This will both help you in making decisions on what roles to target and also help you communicate your intentions to others.
Thoroughly research your options and start networking to increase your chances of finding openings or getting referrals. If you’re looking for an internal lateral move, connect with coworkers, managers, and leaders in the departments you’re interested in to make your interest known.
For external lateral moves, reach out to professional contacts in your industry. Identify any gaps in your current skills where additional training or certifications might be helpful before you apply.
Once you’ve chosen a target position, focus on your transferable skills and previous achievements that are relevant to the new position.
As you transition, it’s important to communicate professionally with your current manager to ensure you leave on good terms. Maintaining a solid reputation and your current relationships, even while forming new ones, will benefit you in the long run. This is especially true if you want future opportunities within the same company or industry.
While lateral moves can be beneficial to career growth, avoid jumping laterally too frequently. Stay in your new role long enough to learn, contribute, and make an impact so you build expertise and demonstrate stability to future employers.
Conclusion
A lateral career move is a strategic step that can expand your skill set, boost your adaptability, and enhance your long-term career prospects. It can break the cycle of career stagnation, introduce you to new opportunities, and help you expand your professional network.
If you're still unsure about whether a lateral career move is right for you or which direction you should take to reach your goals, consider seeking guidance from a career or executive coach.
You can also explore our other blog posts and our videos on YES Channel to gain further insights and help you on your career journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a lateral move in a career?
A lateral move is a transition to a new role at the same hierarchical level or pay grade as your current position. This shift usually involves new responsibilities or joining a new department without an immediate promotion or raise. The goal of lateral moves is to gain new skills and experiences while enhancing your versatility within your organization or industry.
Is a lateral move good for your career?
Since a lateral move allows you to gain new skills, discover different business functions, and build adaptability, it’s often beneficial for long-term career growth by increasing your career mobility. These transitions can also reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction through new and interesting challenges.
How do I justify a lateral move in an interview?
Justify a lateral move during an interview by explaining how the new role aligns with your long-term career objectives. Describe how you hope to broaden your skill set and gain cross-functional experience. Show enthusiasm for the challenges and opportunities to demonstrate adaptability, commitment to continuous learning, and intentional career planning.
Will a lateral move hurt my promotion chances later?
Even if a lateral move doesn’t provide immediate advancement, it can make you a more versatile and well-rounded professional. Expanding your skills and cross-functional abilities positions you as a stronger candidate for higher-level opportunities in the future.
Can a lateral move increase my salary in the long run?
Lateral moves can enhance your earning potential over time by increasing your skill set and value to employers. These moves can also provide networking opportunities that can help advance your career. Sometimes transitions can offer improved benefits or better work conditions, even if the salary is the same, which contributes to your overall compensation package.
About the Authors
Katherine Metres Akbar is the founder and president of YES Career Coaching & Resume Writing Services, one of Washington metro’s two top-rated career success companies. She and her team have helped over 5,000 people and organizations perfect their resumes, master networking, get interviews, receive offers for dream jobs, resettle employees through outplacement, and optimize their teams. Katherine is the world’s only Interview AikidoTM coach, a Certified Talent Optimization Consultant, Certified Professional Career Coach, and a Certified Professional Interview Coach. An award-winning writer, she previously served as a U.S. diplomat and executive director of a civil rights non-profit. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
Michael Akbar is the co-owner and vice president of YES Career Coaching & Resume Writing Services. He is a Certified Professional Career Coach, Certified Federal Career Coach, Certified Business Advisor, and Certified Talent Optimization Consultant helping leaders build their dream teams. Michael leverages his business development background to help coachees get their dream job, often on the hidden job market. Michael has spent 15 years as an entrepreneur coaching business owners to break through their barriers to success. After talking his way into two jobs in order to get a work visa, Michael was inspired to create Interview AikidoTM to help people get jobs, even when they are underqualified. He holds a Bachelor of Science from McGill University and a Master of Science from the City University of London.
The home team is completed by Farah Akbar, a joyful, stubborn, and—some say—adorable terrier/pitbull mix the Akbars adopted from the shelter after a traumatic early life.
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