Personal Business Cards: Useful or Not?

[jjcollins]

I would like to ask about a tool that many articles have cited: a personal business card. I understand that these would be useful during job fairs, at networking group meetings, etc.

Do recruiters find these tools valuable?

If so what is a good format i.e. picture/no-picture, inclusion of last job title, etc.?

Should you have them printed professionally or are "homemade" cards acceptable?

Thanks for the advice,
Jeff

[NoishobRibhah]

Always have business cards on your person.

What do you mean by personal business cards? Do you have business cards with your company/employer?

If yes, bring those with contact information and yes, your title.

If you are trying to be separate or unemployed, make business cards. Don't show up without a way to have new connections remember and contact you. Make sure the business cards are professional because that does represent you. Not fancy, but not "cheep". Contact info and indication of what you do/who you are. No need for logos or fancy tag lines IMO.

[henrywilson]

I would like to ask about a tool that many articles have cited: a personal business card. I understand that these would be useful during job fairs, at networking group meetings, etc.

Do recruiters find these tools valuable?

If so what is a good format i.e. picture/no-picture, inclusion of last job title, etc.?

Should you have them printed professionally or are "homemade" cards acceptable?

Thanks for the advice,
Jeff

Having something handy to communicate all your contact details can be really handy. With the growing number of contact methods now available it has become necessary to have a personal card to quickly and effectively hand out your info to family and friends.
Personal Contact Info
* Land line phone number
* Mobile phone number
* Fax number
* Work phone number
* Email address
* ICQ
* Home address