Kerri Twigg - The Career Stories Method

Praise for
The Method

In the past, your career felt like something that happened to you, rather than something you could create on purpose. Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to shape our careers by telling the story of who we are and how we serve. Kerri Twigg has been at the forefront of this movement, helping thousands of people to reflect on how their stories shape their work. In her book, The Career Stories Method, shes on a mission to help more people do the work thats calling them. If thats you, then youre in good hands. This book is a great place to start building the career you want, with more intention and joy.

Bernadette Jiwa , founder of the Right Company and creator of The Story Skills Workshop

Kerri Twigg is quickly becoming the most trusted voice in career guidance. In this book, she outlines a simple process to find your voice and story, and chart your way to an engaging career.

David Burkus , author of Friend of a Friend

Everyone needs to continually develop in their career, but most people stall because the process can be so overwhelming and hard. Kerri Twigg makes career planning fun, easy, interesting, and effective through The Career Stories Method. A must-read for every professional serious about career growth.

Pamela Slim , author of Body of Work

Stories are a powerful communication toolthey amplify our beliefs and have the ability to manifest our future. That is why we must learn how to tell stories effectively. This is where The Career Stories Method comes in. Learn how to tell your story confidently. From branding to storytelling, Kerri Twigg is a masterful teacher and guide.

String Nguyen , four-time LinkedIn Top Voice and founder of The Trusted Voice

Kerri Twiggs The Career Stories Method is inspired. A respected voice in the career services industry, Kerri wants you to love yourself and your career, and gives you the tools to accomplish both. If you want more from your career, The Career Stories Method offers a unique blend of creativity and practicality to help you land your ideal work.

Kristin A. Sherry , international bestselling author and creator of YouMap

Yes, The Career Stories Method will help you market yourself in todays turbulent job market. But more importantly, it is a practice for diving deep into your psyche. Kerri Twiggs book is filled with practical activities and delivers on its promise, and in doing so helps us unlock something fundamental: Our true motivation.

Allen Gannett , author of The Creative Curve

Kerri Twigg is the ultimate authority on identifying the work you were born to do and landing your ideal job. She has the grit and know-how of a headhunter combined with the empathy and cheer of a best friend. The Career Stories Method is foolproof. Whether you want to reinvent yourself, move up a level, take a sideways step, define your brand, or just take the massive cringe out of a job search, this book is a must-have.

Viv Groskop , author of How to Own the Room

C areers are one of the most beautiful things you can build in your life. A career is not a job, or even a series of jobs; a career is the accumulation of your life experiences and skills. You can judge its success by how you feel in it. Its something you get to build, and, if you ignore it, it gets built for you.

Im not a let them build it for you kind of person. Im thinking you arent one either. I can see how people become less hands-on about their career direction, and for a few years I let it happen to me.

There are three ways to kick off a career:

• You finish high school and maybe have a dreamy idea about the work you can do. If you have a dreamy idea, like I did, you might go for it.
• Or, you might decide your dream is too frivolous (usually it isnt) and you choose something safe. You stick with the safe thing because its not too terrible.
• Or, you might not have a career dream at all. You take a job or go to college, then land something that pays the bills.

The job allows you to have stuff, maybe your own apartment, maybe your own mansion. But the work you do becomes about the stuff, not necessarily about how you feel as you do it. This is what people call feeling stuck. Its not that you never experience success or happiness in your career, its more that, when you look around, you know there could be more than what you have right now.

Some people just need to make a slight shift. Perhaps you might realize that while you used to be happy working one-to-one with clients, after 15 years you dont like it anymore. Somewhere along the way your preferences changed, but the story you tell yourself, the one that goes: I love working with clients and making every client feel cared for, doesnt match your new preference. Career happiness could be just one internal move awaylike changing to a team leader role instead of a client services role. Or, moving from stuck to feeling good at work might mean big changes, like leaving an entire sector, taking courses, or starting your own business.

Whether its a microstep or a huge leap, you only need to make 11 moves not just to land your ideal work, but also to discover your awesome self in the process. It starts with figuring out your career stories.

Stories are a powerful force in our livesboth those we tell ourselves and those we tell others about ourselves. An unexamined one-line story could change your life.

This happened to my client Anton recently. In high school, Anton loved movies and acting. When he graduated, he didnt think he could make it in the movie business, so he took part-time jobs. After a few years, he heard graphic design could be a steady income that would still allow him to be creative. He got a graphic design certificate, landed a few graphic design jobs, and coasted. For a few years he made short videos and shared them online. He got recognition for them, and they were played on public television. A few years later, though, the site and channel where his videos were hosted was shut down. Without an audience, Anton stopped making videos.

I met Anton when he had been working as a graphic designer for many years. When he shared his career stories with me, it was obvious that his greatest joy came from making videos. Yet he wouldnt allow himself the chance to do that work. One story kept replaying in his head: I cant make a living as a video artist. That internal story was directing his whole life.

I told him how all of the skills that kept coming up in his career stories cards (well get into those soonits the first thing youll do) were related to video production. I said, It sounds like you could be happy doing that work and you have the skills for it. It took time, research, story building, and testing for him to accept that he could have a career doing work he loved.

Storiesespecially the ones we tell ourselvesare incredibly powerful. They can hold us back from our dreams. Or they can help us land ideal work.