Business Cards at Interviews?

Launched April 26, 2006
This topic has expert replies
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:10 am
Location: Phoenix
GMAT Score:740

Business Cards at Interviews?

by cfoley » Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:11 am
Stacy / Lisa,

I've got kind of an odd question...

I work for a small company, and to be honest, the business cards I was given are really unprofessional. They are poorly designed and printed on perforated stock from Staples. I'd be embarrassed to give them to anyone at any of the schools I am interested in.

If I'm invited to interview with a school, will I be expected to bring a business card to give to the interviewer? Will it make any difference if I'm interviewing with an alumni or admissions employee? Also, if it makes any difference, I'm applying to Stanford, UCLA, and HBS in the first round, and Chicago, USC, and maybe one other place in the second round.

I'm asking because I was actually thinking of getting some more professional cards printed to be able to give to interviewers. Would this be seen as disingenuous by an admissions committee even the information on the new cards is exactly the same?

(On a side note, I can't say that I blame my employer for not spending any money on them - in three years I've only had 3 or 4 legitimate uses for them.)

Thanks for any advice!

- Chris
Source: — Ask Stacy Blackman |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
MBA Admissions Consultant
Posts: 3845
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:57 pm
Location: Houston, TX
Thanked: 442 times
Followed by:148 members

by Lisa Anderson » Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:42 am
Dear Chris,

You generally do not need business cards for your interviews. It is possible the interviewer will extend a card to you, but it is not expected you will need to give one back. The information on a card is on your resume, and the interviewer already has your resume.

If you do decide to have some printed, the interviewer will not know the difference. I would actually suggest having personal cards made if you are going to go this route as you might be able to use them in business school as well. Personal business cards would have your personal contact information on them instead of company information. Any shop that prints cards on a regular basis would have examples for you to look at to determine if that is something you want.

Good luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

Learn more about me

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:10 am
Location: Phoenix
GMAT Score:740

by cfoley » Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:20 pm
Lisa,

Thanks a ton for your reply.

I looked into the personal cards, and think that if I do anything, I'll go that route.

- Chris