Should you have business (and personal) cards?
I met someone the other day who handed me two business cards and said, “I’ll give you my personal card AND my company’s card… because companies can change.”
When he said that, it made me think, “Wow - Does he plan on quitting soon? What if his boss heard him say that?” (Note - He looked to be on the age boarder of Gen X and Gen Y.)
But the reality is… he is exactly right. Companies do change. And apparently they can change pretty often for Generation Y, considering that the average job tenure is 16 months…
So… is having your own, personal set of business cards a good idea?
YES! Especially in a world where you should be creating your personal brand… Having your own business cards can help build that reputation. And if you are ever planning on striking it out on your own, you’ll be in a much better spot if people have your personal info…
And let’s be honest… having a card that stands out can be make people remember you. When I start working in Corporate America, I already know what my business card will look like… it will look exactly like the other 15,000 people that work at the company. Bor-ing.
I think having my own set of personal cards also conveys to people that I don’t want to be defined my career… I’d much rather have my card reflect who I am as opposed to my job title.
But my question to you is… When you give someone two business cards, what do you think of them? Does that make them seem not very loyal to their company? Does it make them seem like they are always looking for the next opportunity? Or does that make them seem like a typical Millennial?
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Andy!
There you are…I was going to email you today to ask where your blog went, and then I saw your post on the BC forum…Nice new blog.
Great topic…I agree that it does give the impression of a being a job hopper. Having a personal card does promote the personal brand, though.
Maybe an in-between solution:
To solve the keeping in touch problem, maybe print some labels to add to the back of cards used for networking purposes with a personal email address. The reason, “If you’d like to get in touch socially, please contact me at my personal email. I try to avoid using my work email for personal business.”
You can also add a blog or website URL to your email address. I don’t know if companies have a policy against adding to a business card, though. You would want to check!
Miriam Salpeter
Keppie Careers
I had to think about it for awhile, but I have to say that I kind of like the idea of two business cards. Specially in ag. So many businesses in our industry are being swallowed up by the big guys, that it is hard to keep track of employees of the smaller companies, as they are not kept on when they are bought up. Every time we find somebody in the industry we want to keep up with and have contact with they disappear because of how volatile the businesses are. I know I have had a devil of a time keeping up with some feed salesmen that I thought had excellent ideas, because there are so few feed companies left, and the ones they worked for are long gone.
Hmmm . . . I’m a borderline GenX/Baby Boomer, and I’ve had two cards for years. Depending on the situation, I give one card or the other to a person. It’s rare that I give both cards at the same time. Let me mull this over.
Thanks for the comments everyone!
After thinking about it a bit, I like to have a personal card for business functions that don’t have to do with my real job… For example - Speed networking events, charity events or other social settings, I like to have a personal card. Since I met them on my time, it’s fitting that they have my personal contact info.
@ Barbara - When is a scenario that you’d give them both?