This is an interesting question because of current job market conditions. “Keeping Your Job” is the new Promotion. Many people are losing their jobs at an alarming rate, and if you watch the news, it’s a tough job market out there. Competition is fierce for jobs, even entry-level positions. Pretty soon, unemployment will run out for a lot of people and the field will become even tougher.

So, can having a business card get you a job? It is certainly no guarantee, but it does provide a few advantages that can help your chances. And in today’s job market, any advantage over your fellow job-seekers is worth looking into.

Business Cards Provide Credibility – Add credibility to your resume with a business card by clipping it to your resume, or handing it to your interviewer. A business card gives the appearance that you really care about your profession, and take it seriously enough to get business cards printed.

Competitive Advantage – How many other candidates competing for the same position are going to have a business card? The answer is not many. Handing a business card to an interviewer makes them perk up and think… “Why does this person have a business card? What makes them think they are so special?”

It’s a simple trick that can work. Many interviewers scoff at the people who “glitter” up their resume with pictures and large colored fonts. Most of the time, they want your resume to be simple and to the point, and nothing is more to the point about who you are than a business card.

It grabs their attention because it is not expected. After an interview, you can hand someone a business card and they will look at it, and of course look at the name. This extra exposure to who you are isn’t much, but it’s unlikely anyone else is doing it.

Quick Contact Information – Interviewers have to file through stacks and stacks of applications to find a person’s contact information. Sorting through a stack of business cards is much easier. Firstly, not many people will be providing a business card. Then, it is much easier to sort through a short stack of business cards then a large pile of resumes.

Technology has had an immeasurable impact on society. Electronic data now makes up the bulk of documentary evidence used by lawyers across the spectrum of practice areas. The word “bulk” is used by your writer purposefully. Massive amounts of data can be stored electronically in a very small space and the plethora of electronic devices now available makes it easier for people to access and use electronically stored information. The storage of data in binary code with ever-friendlier user interfaces has ushered in the electronic age. This inevitably led lawyers down the path from electronic mail to electronic records to electronic discovery. Whether you are an attorney in Jackson, MS, or an attorney in Mountain View, CA, you need to have an understanding of technology and how to effectively request and analyze large amounts of electronically stored data during discovery.

Moore’s Law states that technology develops exponentially, doubling the processing speeds and storage/memory capacity of computers roughly every two years. Consider that an audio CD holds 700 megabytes of data which is equivalent to 1,000 printed pages and a DVD holds roughly 60,000 printed pages worth of data. 60,000 printed pages could fill the bed of a small pickup truck. A megabyte was not too long ago considered a large amount of data, but now it is common to have a computer with 500 gigabytes (500,000 megabytes) of storage. One and two-terabyte hard drives are sold in devices that are smaller than your hand. The library of congress contains roughly 10 terabytes of data and that amount of data could now fit in a bread box.

Much of the data used as evidence is held on external servers like cell phone providers, social networking websites, and most recently cloud servers. The opposing attorney in your case will be asking for your emails, texts, Facebook entries, and tweets. Clients have historically acted rashly when threatened with litigation and would destroy evidence. That is a horrible idea when it comes to electronically stored data. Most people know by now that the “delete” or “erase” buttons are misnomers. There are programs that “wipe” the disk drive clean and actually do erase documents but what many clients and attorneys do not realize is that these programs leave traces of themselves.

Even if somebody successfully erases electronic evidence, it is still possible to see that something was erased. I liken this to standing next to a garbage bag full of shredded paper. It doesn’t look good. The courts recognize this and there are sanctions in place to penalize parties for erasing electronically stored information that may have been relevant. Every client and every attorney from McComb, MS to Michigan needs to remember that the duty to preserve electronically stored information attaches when litigation is reasonably foreseeable. The same falls on the commissioner of oaths Mississauga as these crimes are often against the oaths people have taken. 

In order to effectively advocate Attorney’s practicing in areas ranging from criminal law to family law to personal injury need to understand how to request and how to deal with the massive amounts of electronically stored data that now makes up most of the evidence in a given case. One way to deal with the amount of data received is to specifically ask for the data to be sent with metadata, hashtags, and other referencing and indexing tools that will make the data searchable. There are many different tactics and techniques that can be used to effectively use electronically saved data. The important thing is that your attorney is able to work in this growing area of the law and excel at collecting evidence in a world full of electronic data. A well-experienced lawyer can deal with such hefty, ever-changing details of electronic crime and you can find one on Lawwise.ca.

You just got your new package of 1,000 business cards delivered. You’ve started a new business, and the smell of fresh business cards make it all the more real. So now what?

What are you going to do with all those business cards? They are not going to hand out themselves, are they?

Business cards are mini-advertisements for you and your business, and they go to waste if they’re sitting under your desk not being handed out. The best way to use your business cards effectively is networking – meeting new, like-minded business owners and employees.

When you first meet new people, you establish communication with your name and what you do, share stories, and so on. It’s common courtesy to exchange business cards at some point during the conversation. Sometimes people are interested in your services right away, especially if you offer something unique. Most times, your business card will be put in a stack and left there until the time is right and someone needs your services.

Potential customers, vendors, and even friends can be found at business networking events. These events include:

Chambers of Commerce – Every major city and most large towns have a Chamber of Commerce. Chambers are essentially groups of business owners and employees that represent the commercial interests of a town or city. Many, if not all, Chambers of Commerce have networking events where the members meet up in social settings, such as lunches and dinners. These casual events offer a relaxed atmosphere for meeting the local businesses in your area.

B2B (Business to Business) services like website designers and accountants can find great value at these types of events because they are full of other business owners.

Business Networking Groups – These kinds of groups are similar to Chambers of Commerce, but have no specific relation to any city or town council. They are usually made up of all types of businesses, and their sole purpose is to network with each other. These groups include BNI, LeTip, Rotary Clubs, and much more. A simple Google search for “your town + ‘networking’” should provide a great starting point.

Industry Events and Conferences – Almost every industry in the world has its own conference, and some industries have a lot more than one throughout the year. Industry-specific events and conferences are a great resource for meeting like-minded business owners.

These events also offer the opportunity to offer products and services that are niche-specific. For example if you design websites for dentists only, then a conference for the dental industry would be a great venue to pass out your business card.

Meetup Groups – Meetup is a website that lets people create groups for real-life meet-ups. You can meet up with all types of groups that may be interested in your services.

Of course, the opportunity to pass out your business card should not be restricted to only these events. Every new person you meet is a possible contact for you, and the only way they will remember you is through your business card.