Is it cheesy to put MBA on your business card?
I recently asked my LinkedIn network about this topic. Note: Even though I am a recovering MBA, I don’t currently list my MBA on my business card, as I previously thought it was moderately tacky. However, lately I have been noticing more and more people putting it on their business cards. So, I decided to find out what my “trusted network felt about the practice.
I sent the question to 200 LinkedIn folk (the most you are allowed at one time) and asked: “Do you think it is cheesy to put MBA on your business cards and in your online profiles?” What I received back was interesting.
I received 37 responses, and of them, 15 said to “flaunt it”, 14 said that it was outright “cheesy” and 8 could go either way depending on the audience.
What surprised me about the results of this little exercise was how polarizing this topic was. I don’t want to cheese out a large segment of the people I meet, and since I am too lazy and cheap to keep two versions of my cards, I think I will keep “MBA” off of my business cards; however, I will leave it in my LinkedIn profile.
December 1st, 2007 at 9:31 am
Interesting that the group was pretty much split down the middle. I realized that despite the fact that my MD is everywhere else, it isn’t on my business card. Hmmm.
December 1st, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Business cards: I think you would get an interesting statistic if you asked the same respondents if they are employed or looking for work.
Profiles/resumes/bios: absolutely should be on there. How MBA is highlighted will be determined on accomplishments - not many = highlighted MBA…many accomplishments tends to minimize the MBA. I know I have hired more MBAs than non-MBAs. There is a relationship, but I care about the experience more.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
That is a really interesting find. I’d have to go with thinking that it was cheesy, but that’s just me. There is a really cool site to check out where you guys can get 250 free business cards. You create and design online. They look pretty nice. You can find them at http://www.giggleprint.com