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Dunham
[Registered User]
09 February 2018 19:59
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Business cards (PhD fresh grad)
User: Dunham - 09 February 2018 19:59
Quote From Tudor_Queen:
You forgot the part where you all needed family counselling afterwards. I still think he/she should get some though and try it out for themselves. It might lead to some key opportunities - you never know. Plus it can make you feel professional, so a nice confidence booster. I'm thinking of having some made myself now after all this convincing stuff I've said!
I agree with pm33 that this is probably a waste of time. If you left an impression or someone could use your workforce in the near future, they will remember you and find you or they will just type your name in their smartphone. If not, they will never contact you. Who remembers the owner of a specific business card months later? This card probably goes straight to the next bin. There are of course situations were business cards make sense (for example if you have a business or are a freelancer that provides a specific service), but in my opinion not if you are just an unemployed scientists that hopes to find a job. I think my impression would be "Wow, you must be really desperate" ;) No offense!
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Tudor_Queen
[Registered User]
09 February 2018 18:52
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User: Tudor_Queen - 09 February 2018 18:52
You forgot the part where you all needed family counselling afterwards. I still think he/she should get some though and try it out for themselves. It might lead to some key opportunities - you never know. Plus it can make you feel professional, so a nice confidence booster. I'm thinking of having some made myself now after all this convincing stuff I've said!
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pm133
[Registered User]
09 February 2018 03:35
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User: pm133 - 09 February 2018 03:35
Quote From Tudor_Queen:
I think you should. I always find it quite impressive when someone hands me one, and I remember them and normally put the card on my noticeboard in the hallway for a good while. If for any reason I wanted to contact that person, it would be very easy to do so - as I'd have their full name and contact details (rather than some scrap of paper with several addys scribbled on that I can't remember who they belong to).
(excuse the grammar of that last part - I am really tired and I know that sounds wrong but can't think of the right way to say it).
Dont get me wrong, when I started out I used to like them as well but what do you do when you get to more than 100 business cards? When I ran my first business I was at over 100 after the first three networking nights. After 6 months I had enough to carpet every room in our house. Within a year I was starting to feel guilty about how many trees had died to make the voluminous pile now taking up half my living room. My wife threatened to move out and the children kept losing their toys in the forest of cards. After two year I relented, stopped accepting new cards and had a bonfire of the lot of them. We cooked sausages on sticks and had many beers. The pile was still smouldering the next morning. I dont have any now. I might have exaggerated a little......
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Tudor_Queen
[Registered User]
08 February 2018 22:59
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User: Tudor_Queen - 08 February 2018 22:59
I think you should. I always find it quite impressive when someone hands me one, and I remember them and normally put the card on my noticeboard in the hallway for a good while. If for any reason I wanted to contact that person, it would be very easy to do so - as I'd have their full name and contact details (rather than some scrap of paper with several addys scribbled on that I can't remember who they belong to).
(excuse the grammar of that last part - I am really tired and I know that sounds wrong but can't think of the right way to say it).
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pm133
[Registered User]
08 February 2018 21:45
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User: pm133 - 08 February 2018 21:45
Quote From LeslieM:
Hi,
I've recently finished my PhD. I plan to print some business cards for attending conferences/seminars before successfully landing a full-time job (which I understand that it may take up to several years!). I have three burning questions and I'd love to know what other early career researchers think:
(1) I don't really have a job title, since I don't have a full-time job. I may have a three-month temporary part-time teaching contract but I won't put that institution as my ''affiliation''. I find the title ''independent scholar'' odd because it simply means I am jobless. If I do not put any job title on my card, it automatically means that I am looking for jobs/on part-time contracts. Therefore, titles such as ''independent scholar'' or ''independent researcher'' would be redundant. Or would you still put "independent scholar" as your title on your card?
(2) Will you include information about your previous education? In my case, my PhD is an interdisciplinary programme (media studies) and my MA is in political science. I am wondering if it would be a nice idea to list out my MA degree as well, so as to indicate that I have a background in social sciences instead of humanities, since both have quite distinctive training and approaches to media studies I suppose. So my card might look like this:
Name
PhD (Media Studies, A University)
MA (Political Science, B University)
Email:
Website:
(3) The last question is about card design. I am looking at websites that provide templates. I am deciding between fancy designs (https://www.moo.com/uk/design-templates/business-cards/pack/monogram.html) or conventional plain designs (https://www.moo.com/uk/design-templates/business-cards/pack/profile-power.html).
Colourful or fancy design may be eye-catching/impressive, but as a female researcher I want to be taken seriously. My male colleagues designed fancy cards but I hesitate if I want to do the same.
Many thanks x
Personally i think you are wasting your time and money. I only ever work with and recommend people I personally know because getting it wrong can be absolutely ruinous to my career. I have also only been contacted with work offers by people with whom I have built up a relationship over time. If I want to establish contact post-conference then I would email them. Networking is very much a long game. Think in terms of several years and be very selective. They dont warn you about that at uni or on job advice sites.
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LeslieM
[Registered User]
07 February 2018 16:37
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User: LeslieM - 07 February 2018 16:37
Hi,
I've recently finished my PhD. I plan to print some business cards for attending conferences/seminars before successfully landing a full-time job (which I understand that it may take up to several years!). I have three burning questions and I'd love to know what other early career researchers think:
(1) I don't really have a job title, since I don't have a full-time job. I may have a three-month temporary part-time teaching contract but I won't put that institution as my ''affiliation''. I find the title ''independent scholar'' odd because it simply means I am jobless. If I do not put any job title on my card, it automatically means that I am looking for jobs/on part-time contracts. Therefore, titles such as ''independent scholar'' or ''independent researcher'' would be redundant. Or would you still put "independent scholar" as your title on your card?
(2) Will you include information about your previous education? In my case, my PhD is an interdisciplinary programme (media studies) and my MA is in political science. I am wondering if it would be a nice idea to list out my MA degree as well, so as to indicate that I have a background in social sciences instead of humanities, since both have quite distinctive training and approaches to media studies I suppose. So my card might look like this:
Name
PhD (Media Studies, A University)
MA (Political Science, B University)
Email:
Website:
(3) The last question is about card design. I am looking at websites that provide templates. I am deciding between fancy designs (https://www.moo.com/uk/design-templates/business-cards/pack/monogram.html) or conventional plain designs (https://www.moo.com/uk/design-templates/business-cards/pack/profile-power.html).
Colourful or fancy design may be eye-catching/impressive, but as a female researcher I want to be taken seriously. My male colleagues designed fancy cards but I hesitate if I want to do the same.
Many thanks x
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