Business Cards – Every Job Hunter Should Have Them

A good piece of advice that I got from a fellow Cornell alum (thanks Suzie!) is that I should have business cards with me when I go to networking events. Initially, I was hesitant about the idea because I wondered what I would put on my card. After all, I don’t own a business nor do I work for one, so it didn’t make sense for me to have a “business” card. But after thinking about it, I changed my mind for the following reasons:

• If someone asks for your card, and you don’t have one, you will look like a clown. OK, maybe not a clown but a less serious networker/job seeker.  And after having business cards, I can say that I feel more confident when I attend networking events (probably because I'm not nervous about people asking for my card anymore).
• You never know for sure who you impressed with your schmoozing. If people have your card and they liked you, they have a means to get in touch with you. If they don’t have your card, the onus is completely on you to follow-up with each and every person you met.
• Business cards are easier and oftentimes more acceptable to carry around than copies of your resume.

So what to put on my card? Sure I could skip the company name but what was I going to put as my title? CEO? The Job Hunter? Unemployed MBA? Well the answer is that you put your target role as your title. If you want to be in investment banking, put “Investment Banking Associate”. If you want to be in internet marketing, put “Online Marketing Analyst”. However, the more narrow your title, the less applicable your card will be in various situations. For example, let’s say you are open to CPG (consumer packaged goods) marketing roles but you put “Online Marketing Analyst” on your card. Well, your card might ding you because it suggests that CPG marketing is not your top choice. It might be better to just put “Marketing Analyst” as your title unless you have multiple versions of business cards (just like resumes), which in case, you can be as specific as you want.

And don’t be scared to be creative (see above sample)! If you bartend on weekends, feel free to add a second title and say you are a mixologist (unless all you do is pour beers). Or if you are an avid photographer, say that you are an amateur photographer (or professional if you have been paid for your work). The point of this is to stand out and show that you are different and unique from all the other job seekers out there. And if there is nothing interesting or different about you, well, you will have a tough time if you are asked why you should be hired over everyone else.

So where do you get business cards from? My personal favorites (I don’t get any commission from this) are MOO cards (http://us.moo.com) and Vistaprint (http://www.vistaprint.com). I have used both in the past and they are good and cheap. You can even customize your own card design and upload pictures and make it snazzy. Be mindful of course of where you hope to work in terms of how conservative their cultures are. For example, don’t jazz up your card and try to be cute if you are targeting bulge bracket investment banks on Wall Street. Likewise, don’t make your card all text, no graphics, and boring if you are trying to get a job at Google or Apple.

The bottom line is that if you are looking for a job, go spend $25 and get some business cards!

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