It’s time to roast your business card! Put your mini billboard to the test and find out what kind of impression it makes. What looks top shelf to you, might not be reflective of your skills and who you are.

Invite a group of job seekers to “roast” each other’s business cards. You may need to be a little thick skinned but it’s better to hear constructive comments than continue giving out business cards that make interviewers say, “Whoa! What’s up with this business card?”

It goes back to the notion that you only have one chance to make a positive first impression.  You want to clearly advertise your skills, make a strong statement, and be positively memorable.  Too extreme in any way, and it’s likely to hit the trash can.

Here are a few tips I heard at a networking group that hosted a business card roast.

• Make sure your contact information is correct. Proof read and then proof read again.   
• Provide multiple ways to contact you
• Go for clean, crisp, and clearly legible
• Use bullet points on back to highlight credentials & skills
• Include your unique selling point and what position you’re looking for
• Vertically formatted cards grab attention, but larger cards get mixed reception 
• Use your photo or not? It’s a toss up. It makes you memorable in large group meetings
• Does the content accurately reflect you? 
• Engineers and techies might add a single bold line of color like black, navy, maroon, or chocolate for a touch of interest
• Leave space for people to write a quick note to jog their memory for how/where they met you.
• Glossy cards are hard to write notes on
• One of the best deals for business cards comes from VistaPrinting.com

If you’re not sure what kind of first impression your business card makes, gather some job seekers, meet for coffee and roast those business cards!

Giving out a professional business card that reflects who you are is important but in the end, it’s about making personal connections. Be proactive about asking for business cards and take the initiative to follow up in a personal way. That’s how you become truly memorable.