Poll: Resumes, Addresses and Business Cards

[athelind]

We're moving at the end of the year, an event which has, heretofore, thrown a wrench into the jobquest, simply because of the need to revise and reprint resumes and so on. That's not going to happen this year.

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[Poll #1478509]

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Note that I use the same letterhead on my resume and my cover letters.

Note also that I'm augmenting my usual "email shotgun" approach with personal visits and hand-carried resumes, which is why business cards may or may not be useful.

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Comments

[leonard-arlotte.livejournal.com]

not enuough room for my full comment.

A business card is for when you are employed. Your contact information is on your resume, and will be kept in a file folder. The business card would be put in the same folder, and would be nigh invisible at the bottom of it.

As for your address, that isn't nearly as important as your phone number. Most interviews are arranged by phone. Anything sent by snail-mail will be forwarded as long as you set your forwarding up properly. (HINT: Set your forwarding up properly!) When your address changes, that gives you an excuse to go visit them again and drop off an updated resume, giving more face-time and showing true interest on your part.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but *not having* a street address looks extremely weird.

[leonard-arlotte.livejournal.com]

I meant that he should keep his current address on the resumes. If he knows what his new address is, he can update, but I don't think he has figured out his new digs yet.

[toob.livejournal.com]

At least in the tech industry, omitting your address from your resume is becoming standard.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I haven't been a job seeker in almost 4 years. I'm a contracted provider of services, not an employee.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Which is to say, you might be right. And my personal experience *is* out of date, even if that might not mean "obsolete"

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Before I answer "business card" or not, I need to know: Are you a business? Looking for a contractor job? Are you someone with a portfolio looking to be hired by a client? Or are you a *future employee*, looking for a *permanent job*?

The first two *need* business cards. The last one doesn't have one.

About the address: You need a street address. PO box if necessary, use your current address and tell them you've moved when it's time to sign a contract if necessary, but put a street address.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's a terrific clarification. I fall into the last category, no matter how many times people try to turn me into a "contractor" because they only need a three-month job done and they don't want to deal with benefits.

(Okay, that's happened once.)

I wish my degree plan had included a seminar on Job Hunting, honestly. I've been flailing around clueless for six years now, and little details like "you only need a business card if you have a real business" is exactly the sort of thing I need to know and don't.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I won't claim to be an expert. I just run my own business, and I've found that cards helped with that, where they wouldn't have helped (and, in fact, didn't help at all, for a couple of prospective cow-orkers) with my previous "real employer".

[thoughtsdriftby.livejournal.com]

A card with your name, maybe some art, and contact information is just that "a card" not a business card. It can be used both to introduce yourself and something to remember your name with a means to contact you.

Yes, it is not a necessity, but it is considered both a bit more formal and polite. I tend to use just an Email for contacting. They work for meeting potential employers, people who might know someone else who knows someone to ask someone, neat people you meet once somewhere that you would like to keep in touch with (like at a Con)... Just a handy thing to have, even when you're already employed and have a corporate business card.

Definitely as a recommendation to female workers: Have a "Only Name and Email" option to hand someone (and use something like GMail, not a home URL).

[halfelf.livejournal.com]

Get a Gmail address like: firstname.lastname@gmail.com
Make sure your cellphone is a national provider that doesn't lose its number (IE not a trakphone).

Use those two bits of information. The address is secondary. Anyone who wants to get in touch with you will use the cell phone first, and email second, most likely. The only thing you'll receive at the address are things like the offer letter, and you can provide to them a valid address during the offer phone call after the interview.

The reason you want a gmail and a national cellphone is just in case you *do* move - that way you won't be dependent on whatever ISP you have, or location.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Yes, a business card is just a card. Use it as a refresher and something to hand out when you meet someone by happenstance. No one likes to be handed a resume on a bus.

I meet people all the time and am terrible with names I hear - but if I read it on the card someone hands me, I'll usually remember it - even if all I do is put the card in my pocket and empty my pockets into the trash at night (not including keys and change, of course).

If you have a pda-type thing, make sure you know how to "beam" business cards to someone else.

Consider too getting involved in some local organizations that are in your field. Local native plant society, SF Bay Bird Observatory (that does more than birds), the EEC. At least maybe check out the meetings - you may hear a speaker or meet someone you can later contact and have an instant point of contact to.