By Julia Nollen
At just 3.5 x 2 inches in size, a proper business card functions as a pint-sized professional billboard for showcasing your skills.
But in this digital age do college kids need them, or are they just relics from our parents’ generation?
For the class of 2011, entering the job market seems almost as terrifying as moving back in with our parents post-graduation. As a senior myself, I, too, have experienced the sudden onset of heart palpitations when a relative asks, “So, have you thought about what you’re going to do after college?” How couldn’t I? More people feel the pressure to land a job right now than to follow Justin Bieber on Twitter.
The jobless rate is still over 9 percent; and according to the Associated Press, the total number of job openings currently sits at a historically low 3.2 million. As students, we want and need to be as prepared as possible when attending networking events and interviews.
You can have a great résumé and some work experience under your belt, but I got to thinking whether business cards are still important, especially in the Internet age.
Career Doctor Randall Hansen thinks so.
Business cards are more than they were just a few years ago, he maintained. You can include a mission statement on the job you’re looking for and URLs to your online résumé, blog, etc., he explained. Instantly, a recruiter has any contact information, website, and e-Portfolios literally at her or his fingertips. And unlike a résumé, this information can be neatly tucked away in a pocket or briefcase.
Big businesses are picking up on the growing trend of these networking tools, too. With business cards now ranked as printing giant Staples’ top-selling promotional item, a rep for the company said: “Branding used to be for businesses only, but now everyone understands the value of creating a brand for yourself. Whether it’s for career advancement or just social networking, Staples customers are increasingly using business cards to make personal statements about themselves.”
But how far should you go in making that statement?
Don’t go for bigger business cards than the standard size because it might not fit in a hiring manager’s rolodex or wallet, Hansen advised. And the design, he added, should reflect the fields you want to go into.
A man well accustomed to the trade, PostNet COO Brian Spindel has seen his share of student business cards. Great business cards, he says:
• complement your résumé’s color and style
• don’t over-style text or artwork
• use both sides of the card to convey key qualifications
• serve as a true conduit to the web by including codes that recruiters can scan with smart phones to download your contact information, and URLs where appropriate
So, bottom line fellow students, you can be memorable, but be tasteful.
(Send us a photo of your business card to CareerDiva@verizon.net and we’ll include it here. Here’s Career Diva’s: 
I’ll be sharing mine soon, once I get my website up and running.)
October 27th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Here’s an old trick I picked up for my business cards. Pay extra to have them cut differently (e.g., one corner cut away, one corner rounded, one edge saw-toothed). That way, when stacked together with other rectangular cards, they are easy to find because of the gap created by the modified corner or edge.
Of course, if everyone started doing that, it would be of no value. Everyone forget what you just read!
October 27th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Oh, I like that HikingStick. Thanks for the suggestion.
October 27th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Staples said that is their number one promotional item? Wow, that sort of blows my mind.
I definitely agree with keeping the business card small. Don’t ya just hate when someone slips you a card that won’t fit in your wallet?
October 27th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
How to Make a Great First Impression: Market Yourself Remarkably at Every Encounter In-person and Online
Just as many if not more career connections are made today via social networking as at live events. Be prepared to share your information in a short and persuasive presentation. A formal resume is usually associated with active job hunters. Instead, convey your current and future interest to establish meaningful connections, develop sharing relationships and exchange ideas and information, whether employed or in transition with concise print and electronic versions of an expanded business card, an idescriptive document showing your “idenality.”
By Debra Feldman, JobWhiz, Executive Talent Agent
Your Executive Ascent…Personally Delivered. Swift, Discreet, Guaranteed.
Going to be attending a networking event? Then plan ahead and create a printed card-sized networking document that quickly communicates who you are, what you do and why you are exceptional. Make this remarkable and worthy of being passed along. This card could generate continuous referrals creating unexpected contacts as those you meet share it. Yes, you could go viral! And this printed version can easily be adapted as your V-card for online use. Here’s how to get started.
This does double duty as a modern business card and a resume describing your capabilities. First and foremost, it must engage interest, show your value instantly and cultivate trust and credibility. It has to be memorable in both appearance and content, sticky, so that you and your potential value to others is not forgotten, but will be recalled and show you as a unique resource in the way you want to be remembered. Even if you are not a “creative-type”, distinguishing yourself with a pertinent, eye-catching graphic is a plus; it adds some punch and grabs the eye. Visuals sell and are also remembered better than text. An infographic like a simple chart illustrating your impact or an attractive font in the right spot will help your networking doc do its job better. If you have a business logo, share it.
What should you include? Put full contact data (name, email, LI profile, twitter account, preferred phone, personal website or blog, street address optional) and your headline to instantly create a mental picture. For example, mine would say, “JobWhiz, Executive Talent Agent:: Expert job search consultant opens doors to unadvertised jobs specializing in re-entry candidates, career changers, industry switchers and anyone who doesn’t fit the mold”. This space could also state a goal such as “Share ideas, advice, and recommendations about career- related networking, using traditional and online techniques to unearth the hidden job market.” You may also link to your online personality (LinkedIn or website or blog URL) with a QR code ( See http://bit.ly/aQM5We). This enables smartphone users to zap you into their contact database.
Continue with skills or mini-success stories that will set you apart on the reverse of the printed version. Show 3-5 core competencies or brief success statements (using numbers or percentages indicating impact or change) designed to get attention. These are mine.
• Invents practical go-to-market strategy and flawlessly implements effective job search plan by connecting directly with hiring decision makers, never HR
• Identifies and removes roadblocks to execute smooth, swift landings
• Develops networks purposefully (http://www.jobwhiz.com/process.php ) plans and produces in-person, telephone and social media networking meetings which identify unadvertised opportunities matching candidate’s ideal job specifications
• Creates an investment in long term career insurance because inside contacts continuously generate leads to the hidden job market
Along with your saying hello and elevator pitch, this identity card is your first and perhaps only chance, to make a great first impression. You want to pique interest and show your potential. It is not a job application or resume submission or just contact data. Today, it’s likely that once someone has your name, they will search online to learn more about you. Be sure to have the most flattering information posted. (You can check out what others see by conducting a search for your name.) Whatever is findable online is your resume. You cannot control what others say about you, but you can present positive information. Put your best foot forward being sure to document achievements online (e.g., LinkedIn status updates and mentions in group discussions) and describing how you got the results. Don’t expect benefits just from being in someone’s network or having had one or two emails back and forth. Networking is not about asking for referrals, but about looking for ways to help each other for the long haul. Invest in your relationships and there will be great returns!
©2010 Debra Feldman
Debra Feldman is the JobWhiz™, a nationally-recognized expert who designs and personally implements swift, strategic, and customized senior level executive job search campaigns, banishing barriers that prevent immediate success. Her gift for Networking Purposefully™ and expediting stalled job searches — executed with high energy and savvy panache — connects candidates directly to decision makers, not HR. Learn more about her groundbreaking techniques that compress job searches from months into weeks. Contact Debra now at www.JobWhiz.com to expedite your executive ascent!
October 28th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
This is a very helpful article, Julia. Your topic reminds of two very different scenes: the first from my own university film classroom and the second from one of my favorite films, _American Psycho_. Many of you know the darkly humorous scene in which the crazed Patrick Batemean compares his beautiful cream-colored business card with his colleagues.’ The problem is that their business cards look as similar to each other as their owners do. The businessmen are practically indistinguishable from each other in their hand-tailored suits and pricey Italian shoes–just like their virtually identical business cards. Therein lies the joke–and the problem.
Admittedly, it is important to publish your unique self on your business card, but how far should you go? Where is that fine line between good taste and bad? And one more question arises. To whom does a student give a business card? This fall, for the very first time in nearly thirty years of teaching, a student in my film class presented me with her business card. It was the first day of class in my History of American Film course. I was preparing to call roll when an attractive, energetic young woman on the front row presented me with her business card. Since I was surprised, I didn’t notice the other students’ reactions. As I was examining her card after class, I wondered what the other students thought and why her actions had surprised me. I must add that her card was tasteful, and I admired her confidence. Furthermore, she was the first student whose name I remembered this semester. My question is the following: What do you students or professors out there think about this situation? Is it a good idea for students to share their business cards with their professors? Or should they keep their cards for potential employers? Do you admire my student’s action? Or do you consider it to be inappropriate? I’d welcome your responses.
October 29th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
What about metal business cards? Check these out: http://www.core77.com/blog/materials/sourcing_wozniaks_photochemically-etched_steel_business_cards_17731.asp