Client Case Study

FROM PIGEONHOLED TO PROMOTED.

Fifteen years at one company. A search playbook that hadn't changed since he last used it. Tim Langham had to relearn how to position himself before the market would let him move.

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Tim Langham, Career Evolved client

Watch Tim's story

The Challenge

After 15 years at one company, Tim was forced into an unfamiliar market with search methods that were 15-plus years old, in an industry with weak prospects.

The Shift

He identified the limiting beliefs keeping him from promoting his own value, then rebuilt his interview approach around diagnosing what the buyer actually needed.

The Outcome

Tim moved into a broader, higher-scope SVP of HR role in a new industry, landed through a network connection surfaced in the first weeks of the program.

Olivia Gamber

A Note From The Founder

Olivia Gamber, CEO

Tim spent 15 years at one company. He planned on retiring there. When it was acquired, he found himself in a market he hadn't touched in over a decade, in an industry that was already in flux.

He assumed his background would speak for itself. It didn't. The traditional levers he knew how to pull weren't working, and the silence rattled something deeper than his search strategy. It rattled his sense of who he was outside of the organization he'd built his identity around.

What struck me about Tim from our first conversation was his willingness to say the quiet part out loud: what I'm doing isn't working. That single admission, without shame attached to it, is what opened the door to everything that came after.

Fifteen Years, Then the Floor Moved

Olivia Gamber

And I know you've recently gone through it, right? Earlier this year, one of the toughest job markets in a decade, and it's just a totally different world out there, and I'd love to hear your journey with your career transition. When we first met, what were you going through?

Tim

Gosh, yeah, I had been at the same company, fantastic company for 15 years. The company was acquired... I planned on retiring at the company... it was difficult, both from an emotional standpoint, just to let go of a culture that you had helped to build and had influence on, a lot of connections and relationships there, but also with an industry at that time that I was serving that was very much in flux and in transition.

“It was just the admission first of what you're doing is not working, and that doesn't mean that you don't have value in the market.”

The Admission

Olivia Gamber

And honestly, that takes a lot of humility, because obviously a lot of executives, they haven't ever had to get help with this... when you started to make that shift strategically, what did that look like for you?

Tim

The first thing that I had to, or hurdle I had to get over is the idea of establishing my brand outside of just serving the organization that I was in, of actually serving myself and looking out for myself over and above the organization was okay, that it was acceptable, that it was actually admirable... I was really challenged to take and examine myself in terms of my beliefs about networking, my beliefs about asking for what I wanted, about approaching others and offering value.

Just those first four or five weeks in the program, I showed up differently in conversations and in interviews than I've ever showed up before.

From Job Description to Diagnosis

Olivia Gamber

I think that's huge because obviously for you to pivot into a completely new industry plus breakthrough where you're leading the majority of the HR business function, that's huge because with your background in OD talent management, technically that could be a tough sell, right?

Tim

Yeah. Yeah, it was a tough sell and a personal journey for me... I felt pigeonholed into a particular area of HR in that OD talent management space and wanted to transition and get a broader resume in terms of leadership outside of that area and more of core HR functions and employee relations and things of that sort.

Tim

So doing that work of identifying the connections of the value that I bring and the value that they need allowed me to have ready answers and ready examples of, yeah, I know the problems you're facing. And this is how my value directly relates to those and can help your department achieve what it needs.

I'm going to ask some questions and help you identify what your actual need is and what your actual outcome you're looking for, because I know I can provide that value.

“I may not check the box that you're looking for in the job description, but I can provide the value you're looking for.”

The Network Did What Networking Couldn't

Olivia Gamber

And so it just sounds like you were able to establish authority through your presence and how you're collaborating with them so that they gain that trust and depth. Plus you had the referral to come through that gave you even more trust.

Tim

I was very fortunate with the connection... We do the work to make the connections. And sometimes those are fulfilled or the fruit comes from those in ways that we don't even anticipate, don't even know that we're making those second and third connections when they're happening behind the scenes. And that was the case with this role.

The way that I was able to push through and seal the deal was to show up confidently and to anticipate the needs and speak directly to them.

“My network is actually what got me to this role.”

Olivia Gamber

I just want to acknowledge that obviously not only did you just transition successfully in the most tough job market we've seen in a decade, but you also broke through new industry, higher level, bigger scope of responsibility.

Tim

Speak to your future self in your mind, like with the gratitude exercises, really focus your mind on speaking to your future self and representing on behalf of your future self... Will that person be satisfied with who I've envisioned myself to be? Will that person be satisfied with the decision I'm faced with? And I think the answer generally is going to be keep progressing until that person is satisfied.

Ready to Stop Applying?

Tim rebuilt his positioning, not his resume, and moved into a bigger role in a market everyone called impossible. If you're carrying a background that feels boxed in, your next step starts with a diagnostic, not another application.

Book Your Career Diagnostic → Watch More Results
Read the full transcript

Olivia: when we first met, what were you going through? What did you experience?

Tim: been at the same company, fantastic company for 15 years. The company was acquired, went through a transition that was a little, you know, I planned on retiring at the company. As

[Question shown on screen]: And, I'd love to hear your journey with your career transition, when we first met, what were you going through? What did you experience?

Tim: it was difficult, both from an emotional standpoint, just to kind of let go of a culture that you had helped to build and had influence on, a lot of connections and relationships there,

Tim: the traditional methods I'd use to try to look for the next role, you know, those really were 15-plus years old.

Tim: I had tried, you know, to pull the different levers I knew to pull in terms of a career and job search, and those levers weren't working.

Olivia: where you're leading the majority of the HR business function, that's huge because with your background in OD talent management, technically that could be a tough sell, right?

Tim: of pigeonholed into a particular area of HR in that OD talent management space and wanted to transition and kind of get a broader resume in terms of leadership outside of that area and more of core HR functions and employee relations and things of that sort. And being able to kind of show my value that I brought in this area of HR

Tim: of came to the, you know, understanding of I need some assistance, because what I'm doing is not working, and if it's not working, then I need some help.

Olivia: what, I want to evolve my personal brand, how I'm marketing, how I'm positioning. And so for you, like, when you started to make that shift strategically, you know, what did that look like for you?

Tim: me, it was just the admission first of what you're doing is not working, and that doesn't mean that you don't have value in the market. It just means that the strategies that I was using were not achieving the results that I was looking for. So, you know, made the decision to try something different, to invest in myself, and I appreciated that it was an investment because, you know, from a financial standpoint, time standpoint, I was going to invest myself because I had already kind of put forth the funds to do so. And the first thing that I had to kind of, or hurdle I had to get over is the idea of establishing my brand outside of just serving the organization that I was in,

Olivia: what would you say to them, you know, what advice would you give if they're entering this current job market, like as a, you know, director of HR in that space?

Tim: speak to your future self in your mind, like with the gratitude exercises, really, um, focus your, your, your mind on speaking to your future, future self and representing on behalf of your future self. When assessing opportunities, is this something now in the current state, you may be in panic mode, you may be in, you know, I've just got to take what I can find, um, mode. Um, but that, as we all know, that only lasts so long. So if you can have a conversation with your future self and be at peace with what you may be accepting versus what you may be, um, jumping into excitedly, then fine. Uh, but always reference and speak to your future self and consider your future self. Will that person be satisfied with who I've envisioned myself to be? Will that person be satisfied with the decision I'm faced with?

Tim: just those first, gosh, four or five weeks in the program, I showed up differently in conversations and in interviews than I've ever showed up before,

Tim: I had some kind of belief system, you know, in the program talk a lot about kind of your core beliefs and what are those and what are the limiting beliefs that you have. And so identifying those early on really,

Tim: I was really challenged to take and examine myself in terms of my beliefs about networking, my beliefs about asking for what I wanted, about approaching others and kind of

Olivia: How do you keep evolving to, you know, be able to carry all this new responsibility?

Tim: it's only my limiting beliefs that shift my mindset to see these or view these as challenges or failure, potential failures versus just opportunities to learn and continue to grow.

Olivia: when it comes to closing the deal or positioning or influencing the C-suite, that's a totally different ballgame, right? You kind of can't just speak to the job description or you sound like white noise to them, right?

Tim: sometimes it's helping someone understand in a leadership position, a C-suite position, what they need, the outcome they're actually looking for versus the experience checkbox they think they need to check

Tim: you're looking for, because I know I can provide that value. I may not check the box that you're looking for in the job description, but I can provide the value you're looking for.