Burn Your Old Resume, the Future of Work Is Here | Kerri Twigg | TEDxWinnipeg

Summary

Kerri Twigg argues that conventional, template-driven resumes can make people sound generic and hide what they are genuinely good at. A resume should be more than a list of duties: it should bring together meaningful stories that show a person’s strengths and help them find work where they can be themselves.

She connects this idea to the changing world of work. New roles are continually emerging, so standard phrases may not communicate what someone can contribute to an innovative job. Twigg identifies collaboration, creativity, communication, and problem-solving as important skills—and says people need to understand the strengths they bring and the difference they make.

Her own career illustrates the value of focusing on meaningful work. After hearing about someone who had waited decades to return to an activity that made him happy, she resolved not to postpone work she cared about. Later, when she wanted a better-paying role outside the arts, she used a story about helping young people solve the problem of a stray dog to identify the kind of work she enjoys: tackling messy problems alongside others and finding creative solutions. That story helped her explain her strengths and led to work in career transition services.

Career-Stories Method

Twigg recommends using personal stories—not formulaic resume language—to identify strengths and shape a career narrative:

1. Set aside the old resume template. She suggests symbolically “burning” or deleting an outdated resume. Before doing so, save factual details—such as job titles, dates, and degrees—that may still be useful for records or LinkedIn.

2. Reflect on work you are proud of. Ask: What am I most proud of doing in my current or previous job? If you have not had a job, use a school project, volunteer experience, or another meaningful activity. Focus on what you did and why it mattered.

3. Write down stories. Twigg describes writing one work story each day for seven days, using index cards. The stories do not have to be recent or come from paid employment.

4. Identify the strengths in each story. Turn the cards over and note the skills or qualities each example shows—for instance, collaboration, organization, or helping others.

5. Look for recurring strengths. Review the stories and notice which skills appear repeatedly. Twigg found that her examples pointed to several recurring categories of strengths.

6. Build a clear career introduction. Explain what you are especially good at, then add the kinds of people or settings with whom you do your best work. This becomes a personal career brand—for example: “I’m great at [strengths], and I do my best work with [people or teams].”

7. Use and share the narrative. Bring these stories and strengths into applications, interviews, social media, conversations with friends, and performance reviews. The goal is to present yourself consistently, rather than adopting a polished persona for a resume that you cannot maintain in an interview or at work.

Twigg’s broader message is that people helping others find employment should begin by affirming that their voices matter and their work is important. Templates and applicant-tracking systems may have a role, but they should not come before helping people recognize and express their strengths.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Kerri Twigg — speaker; shares her personal career experiences and the career-stories method.
• No other speakers or external sources are clearly featured in the subtitles.