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>Years ago, business cards appeared on my desk with my name, company info,
etc. but no title. I have found that not including a title on my card has
been helpful (and more cost effective) since I have held 6 different
positions with the same company over several years.
Yep, one of my old companies only put titles on business cards for managers
and above. There, new technical hires had to go to 6 weeks of training
("boot camp"), then were assigned to a specific role for their first six
months. As so many people switched roles after their initial placement, it
would have been a serious waste of ca$h to put titles on most cards. Plus,
the company was growing so fast that people were becoming managers less than
a year out of college... I wasn't actually a technical hire, so I didn't
have to go through all that, and I left before my title could change (and
before the company went public and the stock split, shot to over $300 a year
ago, and tanked to less than $3 today).
In another life, I went to a conference for the major professional
organization for my former career with the sole purpose of breaking into the
field. I made my own cards on my laser printer, and included a brief
resume-let on the back (high-level bullet-pointed skills). I don't think
they did me one whit of good, but I still got a job as a result of that
conference (which, in turn, led me to flee the field entirely in less than a
year, but that's another story).
Meg, I guess the answer to what to put on your cards relies on what you
expect/hope/want them to do for you. Or are you more concerned that your
title simply doesn't reflect what you're doing? If that's the case, do you
have any recourse within your company to get it changed, or does that screw
up departmental/HR classification?
Meg Ehr
Goddess of Truth and Light wouldn't fit on my cards...
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