Hiring Technical People

“All You Need is a Business Card”

September 24th, 2003

I had lunch a few days ago with a colleague who spent almost two years looking for a job. He’s happily employed now, and told me his secret weapon: “All you need is a business card.”When he saw my surprise, he explained. “To effectively network, you need to give people your email address and phone number. If you say a couple of phrases on your business card, that’s ok. But you don’t need much. You have to make the impression on the person you talk to, and then hand that person your card. They’ll remember you, much longer than they remember your resume.”Many of the people I’ve recently met have followed my colleague’s advice. They all have cards. You don’t have to have an expensive card. Cheap cards are just fine. I’m not a fan of the people who use make-your-own-on-your-inkjet-printer cards — they look cheap and ink rubs off. And if you use one of the online services to print your cards, make sure you don’t use a popular design. The cards look like everyone else’s cards. You don’t need a fancy design. A card with your information is all you need. Boring is ok.

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