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Business cards are used all the time at my company. Both from within and anyone who comes from the outside (vendors/consultants). I guess we didn't get the memo.
Business cards are used all the time at my company. Both from within and anyone who comes from the outside (vendors/consultants). I guess we didn't get the memo.
To the OP's question, I think it would be a bit odd myself if someone I interviewed gave me a business card. I obviously already have that information from the resume.
Ok, so I'm 61 yrs old and have a Business Card Holder that is half full of business cards for vehicle repair, insurance, doctor, etc., etc..........not everyone is INTO electronic "saving" like you are Charles! Although, I do have a number of phone numbers in my Contacts area of cell phone that came from the business cards that I have. BUT, those types of Business Cards are very different than a "I'm looking for a job" type of Business Card!
Staples, the office supply chain, reports with some surprise that demand for business cards has surged, with double-digit growth over the past three years. Vistaprint, a large online printing company, sells more business cards than almost any other product. Office Depot also reports growing sales.
I would say that business cards can be useful if you are already working for a company, and your contact info with that company is on the card. But if you aren't working for a company, it's pretty cheesy and pretentious to have a business card, unless you are an independently working professional like a licensed therapist, CPA, or attorney.
But if you have a business card with just your contact info, and you aren't connected to a company, it's like you're trying to say you're "important" or something. I had a co-worker a few years back whose job at our company didn't warrant having a card (she had no outside contact outside of the company) and she kept pushing to get company business cards. Her reason? "when I meet guys in bars, I'd like to give them my card instead of just giving my number, and they will be impressed that I have a card." She ended up getting cards at Staples to give out at bars.
I have company business cards, and when I go to conferences in my field, we often exchange cards, but the important thing here is that we belong to companies; we aren't just "people with a business card." Yes, I often save the info from a person's card into my smart phone and discard the card itself, but I do need the card in order to get that info. I'm not going to stand at some conference typing in someone's info. I keep about 4 actual cards pinned to my bulletin board: two attorneys, our worker's comp loss prevention guy, and the risk mgmt person from our liability insurer.
If someone came in applying for a job with me and gave me a business card with personal contact info and not connected to an actual company or their legitmate private practice, I'd think they were strange, pretentious, and self-important (and that tonight they'll be giving out the same card in bars).
Most CEO/VPs under 60 wouldn't ask for a business card - they'd have a smartphone/electronic device.
And if you did hand them a business card, the first thing he or anyone else would do with it is transcribe the information on it into an electronic file and then THROW THE BUSINESS CARD IN THE TRASH.
So you want a CEO to take the time to type a name, address, company info, email address and phone number into a smartphone when standing around a conference talking? Or will they take a business card, give it to their assistant and have it entered into an address book on outlook/blackberry the next day?
Seriously? Have you interacted with anyone in the business world before?
Staples, the office supply chain, reports with some surprise that demand for business cards has surged, with double-digit growth over the past three years. Vistaprint, a large online printing company, sells more business cards than almost any other product. Office Depot also reports growing sales.
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