How to pass candidates my contact information if I'm not issued a business card

Question

Recently I had to conduct a technical job interview for an opening at our company. At the end of the interview, I thanked the candidate for their time and told them they were welcome to send me an email, should any questions arise at a later time. My company does not issue its employees business cards, so I suggested to the candidate they could ask the recruiter for my contact info.

However, this approach seems unorthodox and possibly inefficient - they would need two steps to contact me, and might decide to save themselves the trouble and not contact me at all, especially if their question is minor.

I will be working with the hire directly and I would like to give a friendly first impression. Also, I'd be happy to see interest and answer any arising technical questions.

I thought I could just spell out my email (it is firstname.lastname@company), but a name is easy to forget. I would myself have the candidate's email address from their resume, but it's the etiquette that the candidate sends a thank-you email, and not the other way around.

I could also ask management to issue business cards to me, but I am likely to have to interview more people over the following one or two weeks, so I at least need a solution for the meanwhile.

Some additional clarifications: I am the only technical person who will be interviewing the candidates from my location (other people may call in at a later stage), and the person, if hired, will be working alongside me.

What would be the best way to encourage the interviewee to contact me with any questions, and pass my contact info in a natural way?

Note: my question is not a duplicate of this one. I don't intend to use my own cards instead of employer-issued ones, and my question is related to passing my information in a business setting, not in society.

Answer 1

I would myself have the candidate's email address from their resume, but it's the etiquette that the candidate sends a thank-you email, and not the other way around.

Another solution would be to still send them an email, even though you may not want to thank them. If your email signature contains all necessary information, even a short email could suffice - just reiterate that they are welcome to ask you any questions and now they got your contact information.

It's not too much work for you and the interviewee also doesn't have to read much. They are encouraged to contact you again, and it also comes across naturally, since they else don't have your contact information. Also, unlike with business cards, they can simply answer your email to ask questions, so it's even a bit more convenient.

Answer 2

First, find out your company's policy. I've worked in organizations where the goal was to have outside people (candidates for positions, clients, vendors, whoever) contact very specific people. People who were expected to interface outside the organization were given business cards. Others were expected to pass along (often via the business card) the contact information of the people who interface with external entities.

If your company's policy is to have certain people, for example the recruiter or the hiring manager, be the only people that interface directly with candidates outside of an interview, you should not be giving out your contact information. They should have the contact information for someone at your organization through the process of setting up an interview, but you can ask about getting business cards for these people and passing them along in the interview.

If your company is OK with you passing along your company contact information, ask about getting company provided business cards. If you can't get business cards, raise these concerns with your recruiter or manager. I disagree with the people suggesting that you purchase your own business cards and putting your company information on them. You should not be taking on this type of expense (even if in this particular case it is rather minimal).

Whatever you do, you should not be providing your work contact information to people without knowing your company's policy on outside entities contacting you.

Answer 3

Write the information in a Word document and print it 'n' times. It doesn't have to look like a card. Print it on pink paper or whatever if you want it to stand out.

I would not go about designing my own business card without documented permission, companies can get snippy about that sort of thing- technically you'd be violating copyright on their logo, for example.

Answer 4

1980 called, they want their business cards back.

Enter your own contact information into your phone. Modern phones support NFC, so transferring contact info is as easy as touching two phones together. Practice using blue tooth as backup transfer a few times, and you're good to go.

Answer 5

Make them yourself to bridge the gap between now and when the official ones arrive. This was something that was typically done in the past. The process of getting cards could take weeks, but this was encouraged to make sure you had some cards if you knew you needed them.

Business supply stores sell paper that goes in the printer and is used to make a sheet of cards. You can also find templates either in your word processing software or the company that makes the paper has a site you can download it. They help make sure your design fits exactly on the cards.

Yes these aren't the best looking. You can tell they were from perforated card stock. You have to find a company logo. If you have another employees card you can make yours look similar.

Also order official ones through the company, they aren't very expensive.

Many places can get business cards done overnight. The last time I joined a company my manager sent me an email to confirm the spelling of my name, email address, and the phone numbers. The cards arrived 2 business day later. Your management should be able to do this. A thousand custom printed cards in my area is less than $20. Overnight.