“Three rules to smart business card etiquette”

Have you ever been to a career or business fair? With thousands of business professionals rubbing elbows, delivering elevator pitches, and sometimes, fighting to keep their professional hopes afloat, a career fair can be a rather chaotic event. To find that one recruiter, that one business contact, you must weave in and out of lines, cut through masses of people, and use your expert discretion to decide whether waiting in line for 20 minutes to speak to a representative from XYZ Inc. is a good use of your time. In the case that you decide to leave the line, should you leave a business card behind for the representative? Whether you’re at a business or career fair, sharing a meal with a new business contact, or meet someone on the street who you want in your professional network, there are certain rules which should help you to decide whether, in each instance, you should share your business card.

Career aficionado and CareerRealism contributor Tai Goodwin says that, specifically, there exist three rules to smart business card etiquette:

1. Keep your business card to yourself. Although this advice might seem suspicious, Goodwin’s point is this: business cards aren’t, as he says, “$20 bills,” and should not be handed out willy-nilly. Goodwin asks, “Have you ever had someone come up to you while you are talking to someone else and slip a business card in your hand and keep moving?” This haphazard method of distributing your business card is not only discourteous, says Goodwin, but turns your business card into nothing more than junk mail.
2. Give your business card to someone if they ask for it. Goodwin points out that, just as you might request someone’s contact information if you intend to follow-up with him or her after your meeting, someone, if they intend to follow-up with you, will ask for your business card. While Goodwin rightly notes that “passing out my card to 20 people does not mean that I will get 20 calls,” I might add that in addition to providing someone your business card, always ask for theirs. While you may not be able to control whether they decide to follow-up, having their contact information provides you with the means to follow-up even if they don’t.
3. Don’t waste contact information. Perhaps one of his most important suggestions, Goodwin recommends that if you accept, or ask for someone’s business card, don’t squander that opportunity to network—reach out to them with a courteous e-mail or phone call to firmly establish that connection. “Do something,” suggests Woodwin, “to capitalize on the meeting.”