7 Reasons Why STEM Students Need Business Cards

Are you, or is someone you care about, headed to a college career fair this fall?

If so, I published a blog post titled, Engineering/STEM Career Fair Prep…Do It NOW!, that I urge you to read and act on immediately. It has everything you’ll need to help ensure that you snag an interview with one or more of the companies you talk to during the fair.

Well, it has almost everything. I realized after posting the career fair prep article that there was one glaring omission. I failed to include the need for engineering/STEM students to have personal business cards (I've since added a link in my blog post back to this LinkedIn article).

Yes, STEM Students Must Have Business Cards

A career fair is often the career starting gate (“hurdle” might be more fitting) for STEM students as they journey through college towards a full-time job after graduation.

Unfortunately, as a STEM student, you must share the “starting gate” with hundreds of classmates, who all have resumes, and who are all seeking attention from the hundreds of company recruiters who are on hand.

Besides your one-of-kind smile and unique elevator speech, a professional-looking business card is a critical way to help you stand out from the masses.

Recruiters Will Notice

From my past experience as an engineering college recruiter for John Deere, I want you to know that business cards can make a big difference at the end of the day as a tired recruiter sorts through all of the resumes, notes, and conversations he/she had during the day.

For this reason alone, I believe student business cards are a no-brainer. But here are 7 more reasons that I hope will convince you to order business cards today:

7 Reasons for STEM Students To Have Business Cards

1. A business card immediately raises your status from student to professional. It moves you closer to being on par with all working professionals. Making this kind of impression on a recruiter can’t be understated.
2. Having a card allows you to reciprocate easily and comfortably when you ask a recruiter (or any professional you're meeting with) for their business card. This is important. As Robert Cialdini notes in his wonderful book, Influence, the rule of reciprocity says that “we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.”
3. Exchanging business cards is still an accepted norm throughout the business world. Having a card positions you to be a part of the accepted professional practice of exchanging contact information and starting relationships in this way.
4. Having a crisp, sharp looking business card will help to make you memorable. Lucky for you, you'll win points immediately with your card because most students don’t bother to use business cards. According to author, speaker and master networker, Alana Muller, a business card "will set you apart from your peers when it comes to identifying and landing internships and job opportunities."
5. Most resumes are boring, static, black and white documents. If you’re so inclined, a business card let’s your right brain go a little wild (within reason) with colors, good design, and graphics. These elements can add to your memorability.
6. A card can hold valuable personal branding information that typically won’t be on your resume. For example, a QR code makes it easy to take the reader directly to your LinkedIn Profile or to your personal website. However, if you include a QR code, make sure it links to a site that’s optimized for mobile viewing.
7. A business card will help you feel more professional and more confident. I know from personal experience, confidence builders such as business cards can be a big help when we’re facing the fear of meeting lots of new people we don’t know (e.g., recruiters at career fairs).

Now…What To Put On Your Card?

Answering this question is really your call, but my suggestion is to start with basic contact information, which means your name and email address (be sure it’s not some funky teen address like [email protected]) .

• Since you’re a student, I’d be inclined to include the name of your college or university, along with your program of study or major.
• Plus, be sure to include professional social media links such as Twitter and LinkedIn (assuming your profiles are looking sharp). If you have a personal website, you’ll definitely want to include the URL and/or a QR code that links to your website.
• If you’re not comfortable as a student giving it out, don’t feel like you must include your phone number. Given the digital nature of communications today, a recruiter or company rep will most likely contact you initially by email, LinkedIn or possibly Twitter. Once a first contact is made, you can certainly pass along your phone number. But again, this is totally your call (no pun intended).
• Make sure you choose a font, font size, and colors that are easy to read and that match the personal brand you’re crafting. Include a simple, cool graphic if it makes sense, but don’t let your card get cluttered with too much “stuff”.

Finally, be sure to ask a few friends, family members and working professionals for feedback on your card before printing it. Often it’s easy for us to be blind to stupid typos, bad design or information that simply doesn’t read well.

Get Set To Start Sharing Your Cards

Once you’ve settled on your card’s design, find a supplier and get them ordered.

Don’t skimp on crummy looking, print-your-own cards. For around $10, a company like  vistaprint  will print you a good supply on high quality card stock.

Once they arrive, you’ll be set to wow the world with a professional card that truly represents your personal brand.

 Good Luck!

 Question: What’s your experience been with using business cards as a student? Please share your comments below.

NOTE: This article is written around the context of college STEM students needing business cards, but middle and high schoolers can also benefit in similar ways from having personal business cards! 

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Thanks for reading. I'm Don Gallagher, founder of the STEM career and soft skills development site: EngineeringCareerLauncher.com.

Educated as a mechanical engineer, I spent 25 years in engineering, recruiting, training, sales and marketing roles with John Deere. Today I have a passion for helping STEM students build remarkable careers. 

If you found this article helpful, you might also like my FREE 57-page STRAIGHT TALK GUIDE titled, DOMINATING YOUR INTERNSHIP: 7.5 Secrets to Creating an Awesome and Invaluable Experience as an Engineering or STEM Intern.

There are other free GUIDES and resources in the ECL Learning Store.