There’s a quiet pattern I’ve observed over the years working with professionals across Switzerland. The ones who are ready for growth are often looking outward for their next opportunity, while it is quietly unfolding just a few desks away. Many of the professionals I work with are fully prepared for their next step, yet they focus their energy everywhere except where they already stand.
They perfect their CV, scan job boards, speak to recruiters, and prepare for interviews outside the company. Meanwhile, inside their own organisation, opportunities are moving quietly. They are not publicly posted or widely announced; they are discussed in meetings, over coffee, during project debriefs, and in passing conversations. And often, they are not part of those conversations.
When we talk about networking, people tend to imagine industry events, LinkedIn outreach, or connecting with strangers. But networking is much simpler than that. It is what you already do every day: asking a colleague for input, sharing an idea in a meeting, messaging someone to clarify a detail.
Inside your organisation, you already have something external candidates don’t: a built-in network. Your manager, your team, the cross-functional colleague you collaborated with months ago, the committee member from that strategy workshop, even the people you occasionally have lunch with! The question is not whether you have a network, it is whether they know what you want.
Most internal career moves do not happen because someone submits an application through the portal. They happen because someone says, “You know who would actually be good for this?” and your name comes to mind.
This is where company culture plays a subtle yet powerful role. Every organisation has an informal layer beyond job descriptions and org charts. There are patterns in who gets visibility, how decisions are made, what expertise is valued, and which behaviours are rewarded.
When you network internally, you are not just building connections…you are, in fact, gathering insight. You begin to see where growth is happening, which departments are expanding, what skills managers are increasingly asking for, and which certifications or experiences are becoming valuable. From within the culture, you clarify your own direction faster and more realistically.
At the same time, your personal brand becomes tangible…not the online version, but the lived one. You start to understand what you are known for in the room.
Are you the reliable executor, the calm problem-solver, the strategic thinker, the person who quietly fixes complex issues? Many professionals underestimate the reputation they have already built simply by showing up consistently.
Internal networking is not about asking for favours. It is about being intentional in conversations
- If you already know which departments interest you, have you spoken to anyone there — not to request a job, but to understand the challenges they are facing
- Have you shared with your manager the direction you would like to explore next, not as a demand, but as context?
- Have you allowed colleagues to see your strengths beyond your current title?
Most clients who successfully move internally do not do so by accident. They expand their presence, clarify their goals out loud, discover opportunities before they are posted, and make an impression long before submitting an application. Because they are already inside the culture, they hold an advantage that external candidates do not.
If you are currently thinking about your next step, perhaps the first question is not, “Where else should I apply?” Perhaps it is, “Who inside my organisation needs to understand what I am capable of?”
Because honestly, sometimes the next opportunity is not outside. It is already around you … waiting for you to enter the conversation.
If this resonates and you would like to think more intentionally about your internal positioning, or about how your professional presence , including visually, reflects where you are heading, I am always open for that conversation.
Here’s to building networks that open doors.
Sincerely,
@Advanced Talent & Adrian Chira
Adelina Stefan
Founder of Advanced Talent LLC
MCC-ICF Coach & Mentor, MBA, MA
Senior Intercultural Career & Transformational Master Coach
