Don't Be Dumb As a Pile of Bricks? Get a Business Card.

Few people bring smiles to a recruiter's heart as much as Tiffany from Magic Pot of Jobs.  She says the things many of us think but are afraid to say.

In this case - what do you do if someone you're talking to is three eggs short of a carton?  Or as dumb as a pile of bricks?

But lest you think that Tiffany is all snark and no help, check out her post on the necessity of business cards.

One of the things I recommend to people for networking purposes is to always, ALWAYS ALWAYS carry business cards.  It’s a simple way to be prepared for unexpected connection opportunities.  But what if you don’t have a job?  Or what if you’re looking for a new one?  Or maybe the person you met is really more of a personal contact and you’d prefer not to use your job’s card?

Well, duh, get personal cards printed.  It’s so cheap to do it that there’s really no excuse not to.

I collect business cards the way crazy old women collect cats.  I have boxes and boxes, just in case whatever I'm doing in the future changes, and in the worst case scenarios, a business card introduction (I'm looking at your card that I picked up when we met a few years ago), is still better than a cold call.

For candidates, business cards are important because they suggest "effort" - something in short supply among the unemployed.  If you've taken the time to get business cards, recruiters automatically assume you're going to make the effort to get to the interview, consider the job, and possibly be a placement.

And of course, there's that other problem - most of us have terrible memories, especially with the amount of information we take in these days.  A business card let's us file you away for future reference, and may jog our memory at just the right time in the future.