Personal Calling Cards for Job Seekers

When you're job searching, personal calling cards can provide you with a professional and socially appropriate way to share your contact information with people who may be good business contacts. When you were employed, you likely used business cards provided by your employer for this purpose. As a job seeker, personal calling cards can very effectively serve the same purpose.

Your personal cards will be very useful at any time when you meet someone who would be a good business contact and may be able to provide you with job leads or other support related to your job search, and you want to provide that person with your contact information but you either do not have a resume with you or it would not feel socially appropriate to hand your resume to that person at that time.

For example, imagine you're at an informational interview. If the employer asks for your resume at an informational interview, it's smart to provide him or her with a copy. However, if the employer does not ask for your resume, you'll still want him or her to be able to contact you in the future. In this case, providing the employer with a personal calling card is a great option. It's socially acceptable; business people trade business cards all the time, and it's much more professional than scribbling your name down on a piece of paper that will probably just get lost anyway.

Similarly, you may find yourself at a party meeting new people, and you just might happen to meet someone who has a great job lead for you. You probably don't bring stacks of resumes to parties, and you might feel a bit awkward handing someone your resume in this setting. However, if you were in the habit of carrying a few calling cards in your wallet, you'd have a simple, acceptable and professional way to share your contact information with your new business contact.

How to Create Business Cards for Your Job Search

Your cards must include the following information:

• Your name
  
• Your contact information - The same contact information you'd include on your resume (phone, email and address)
  
• The title of the job you are seeking
  
  Optional:
  Your personal calling cards may also include two or three important skills or qualifications that make you highly marketable in your field of work. Don't go overboard with this, however, it's important to keep your cards clean and professional looking.
  
  

  You can easily create free personal calling cards

  for your job search at a site like VistaPrint. They have templates that you can use to create professional looking cards, with no artistic skills required. Be sure to choose a template that conveys an image that is a good fit with the expectations in your industry. I've done some price comparisons while purchasing my own business cards, and I've found that online companies, like Vista Print, provide much more inexpensive business cards than local print shops usually provide.
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