Business Card Etiquette

So I've been to my fair share of business networking socials.....
I don't think people are ever taught business card etiquette. Why not? You could have something great to offer someone...then you destroy the chance to work with them by inappropriately promoting yourself? Yikes.

The worst EVER situation happened was back in the university days. I was at a business conference and there were about 10 people in a group chatting casually. One of the students pulls out his resume and hands it to one of the conference sponsor representatives that we (and I stress WE...because it was a GROUP discussion) and says "If anything comes up, I would love to work with you" We ALL paused in dead silence and in mid sentence. How awkward.

Anyways a few years later...and I go to an event where the age of the attendees ranged anywhere between 25 all the way up to 60. A man came up to me and introduced himself. He asked me what I did and I told him I was in marketing. He responded by saying "ok...cool, I'm a financial adviser....can we exchange cards? We can work together one day" I thought "hold on a sec...did I completely BLANK OUT for a chunk of the conversation? Did I miss out on when we chatted about what exactly we do and established how we could use both of our skills to leverage our businesses??" How awkward....again...YEARS later and with someone that was not 17.

Hate your day job? What's keeping you from leaving?

The other day I took a stroll along Yonge street and decided to get my yes..SECOND dose of Starbucks goodness for the day. On the way there...I overheard two people conversing..or shall I say bitching about work. One complained about constantly getting administrative tasks handed to her and said that she was bored to death! The other complained about how power hungry his manager was.

It occurred to me that the only thing that was probably keeping these two people at their jobs was the company of one another.

The people you work with, and organizational culture can make or break your job. There are those I know that do not necessarily LOVE what they do..but they are in love with the people they work with. Others absolutely love what they are responsible for at their workplace but cannot stand those they work with. Most of the time, those stuck in the latter situation do not tend to stick around for long...and I absolutely agree that they shouldn't. I do not however agree that the first situation is a good idea either. In fact, personally....amazing corporate culture, and team dynamics is not enough to keep me with a company. It is definitely not enough to keep me engaged. If you feel like you're not being challenged enough at work, are not given the opportunity to demonstrate what you're capable of, or are shut down when you try to step up and do so...my advice to you would be to leave and find an employer who will. No settling for an "ok" situation in life. Keep moving until you find yourself where you believe you have earned and deserve to be.

Intro to "Me...Unwrapped"

Just a quickie..welcome to "Me...unwrapped" :)

I've shed my skin a few times so far throughout my life....always discovering new things about myself...and always open to finding more. I believe that people shed their skin multiple times in life.
We sort of unravel as we go through the ups and downs of life, and chose what we take away with each experience.

Check out my profile and you'll get an idea of what my passions and interests are. Stay tuned for posts...comment, argue, agree on, and bicker back if you like :) I LOVE a good fight. Is that sick?