Your professional LinkedIn profile photo isn’t just an image; it’s a marketing tool that can help you connect with potential employers, clients, and colleagues.
That said, there are a lot of rules and regulations related to profile photos on LinkedIn. In this article, we’ll discuss what they are and why they’re important so you can make sure your photo is as professional as possible.
At some point in your career, you will be asked to create a LinkedIn profile. In fact, odds are that you’ve already created one and didn’t even realize it.
That’s because LinkedIn uses your Facebook account as an authorization method for creating profiles on their website. If you haven’t created yours yet, take this opportunity to do so now!
Once you’ve got yourself a shiny new LinkedIn profile page, it’s time to get serious about what kinds of photos are appropriate (and inappropriate) for the site.
Your photo is responsible for making that first impression and setting expectations as to who you are as a professional. It can also help or hurt your chances of getting hired; so before we talk about how important it is and why you should care about what others think.
Your LinkedIn photo should reflect who you are professionally. Your photo should be a professional headshot, not a selfie or a picture of your dog.
This doesn’t mean that you have to look like a model in every photo, but it does mean that the image should be appropriate for business settings and convey a sense of professionalism.
If your personality is outgoing and fun-loving, this can come across through your photos—but make sure that the impression isn’t too casual; remember that even though LinkedIn is used by professionals from all industries, there are still many people on the site who are not looking for an entirely social experience.
For example, if you work in marketing or public relations and enjoy showing off how creative you are by taking funny pictures at work every day (and don’t mind sharing them with hundreds of strangers), then go ahead.
But someone who doesn’t know anything about your job might get confused by seeing so many random shots from around the office on their screen instead of being greeted with an image that looks like it was taken specifically for this purpose—especially since most people do not have access to their own personal photographer.
There are a few reasons why potential employers will judge you by your photo.
First, as a society, we are conditioned to associate certain physical traits with certain personality traits.
For example, we tend to think that tall people are more intelligent and assertive than short people. And even if this isn’t true at all times, it does have some basis in reality.
This is largely due to the fact that we spend most of our lives interacting with other humans face-to-face; so what we see visually becomes ingrained in our minds over time—it becomes hardwired into our brains (yes, I went there).
The same holds true when it comes to judging someone based on their appearance or demeanour when they’re not around you personally: simply seeing an image of someone can influence how you perceive them.
Image matters because it provides clues about who a person is without much effort at all.
This is obvious, but it’s important to remember when you are making decisions about your LinkedIn profile photos. Make sure that this person looks like he or she could be successful in the workplace.
You want your picture to make people think “I would hire this person!” before they even read any of your experience or skills.
Your LinkedIn photo should show off who you are today—not what you looked like five years ago, nor what you will look like ten years from now (unless those things have changed dramatically).
Avoid dark images and bright images unless they’re artistic-looking black and white photography, which can work well if it’s professionally done and shows off something about how talented/creative/innovative you are (i.e., photography).
If all else fails, try taking pictures at different times during sunrise or sunset as these can give good results that aren’t too bright or dark while still providing some colour variation within each frame.
This step will ensure that they don’t all look identical when posted together on social media sites such as Facebook & Twitter along with other types of online media outlets like blogs etc.
Having a professional LinkedIn photo is a significant part of your online identity. As we’ve seen, it can have a direct impact on the first impressions people have of you and whether they choose to contact you in the future.
And while selecting the perfect headshot is just one step towards making your profile shine on LinkedIn, it’s important not to neglect other aspects such as the text content or showcasing skills through endorsements.
The bottom line is that you need to do everything possible to make sure potential employers see how awesome you are!