New employees are sometimes handed a box of business cards. Why? They'll need them. They will go to events and meet people, they will meet with clients or customers, they will be representing the company at an event.
Your role as a job seeker is to treat this like a real job, so get yourself business cards. You will need them. Writing out all your contact information is time consuming.
- You can give them out at events/seminars/meetings
- You can provide them to new or old friends you run into
Because you are on a budget, you will want to be frugal, but not cheap. Don't sacrifice quality. Shop around and find a good deal. Check on-line. You can find them for under $10 for 250 color printed. (vistaprintdotcom)
What do you put on them? Simple: Your name, phone number, email and job title you are pursuing. That's all you need.
There was a great discussion about what job title to put on your card in a workshop yesterday. While there are different strategies and logic here, my thoughts would be to put something specific rather than too general.
For example, I don't think Strategic Leader, Creative Problem Solver, Diligent Negotiator are helpful to anyone as job titles. However, I do think it might be ok to list several job titles, for example COO, General Manager, VP of Operations.
What I am not recommending is using varying different types of jobs, such as Human Resources or Customer Service or Accountant, this isn't good branding. Don't be all things to all people.
The title has to be just descriptive enough. Listing Project Manager, doesn't say what kind of project manager. Consider adding the industry too. Project Manager, Software Development.
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.
