What Is The Etiquette For Networking Business Cards?
Q: I am looking to change jobs and will attend an industry event with the intention to network to find better employment opportunities. What should my business card read? There will be a lot of people at this event and I am afraid that if I include my name and contact information only the person I give it to won’t remember what this contact information is in regards to. On the other hand, I dont what it to read “looking for a job” Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time.
A: I would have special cards printed up. Don’t worry, it’s cheap from Moo.com I love Moo‘s mini cards. You can have them printed with different images. In fact, you can have a different image on every single card in the order, if you want. Under your name, why not just have your specialty like Database Administration, Marketing, Makeup Artist, etc.
One Response to “What Is The Etiquette For Networking Business Cards?”
Leave a Reply
I have been in this position before and understand. When you are employed it is a plus while you are looking for a job and so you dont want people to get the impression you are not employed. I would use your current business card. You might mention you would consider exploring other opportunties during your in-person meeting but as they know you are still working, they would be foolish to bring that up in an email. Otherwise, perhaps you should exchange cards and maybe not explain you are looking right then. See what they are up to and then after you are away from te event, follow-up with those people/orgs that interest you.
Then schedule follow-up calls and coffee meetings with those people. Perhaps when they send you the first email, you can switch to your personal email address in your response so that you can be more honest.
Anyway – overall, use your current business cards as this will make you look professional and shows you aren’t desperate as you have a job and then follow-up through your private email if they email you first. If you email them first then start with your private email and explain briefly that you are interested in what they do and wanted to learn more about their firm or something like that and try to meet or speak on the phone. I hope this helps.