8 types of photo you really should avoid using on LinkedIn
- Jan 13, 2017
- 3 min read
LinkedIn doesn’t play ball when it comes to professional profile pics and neither should you. If you upload a pic to your profile that isn’t actually of you or isn’t even a headshot, LinkedIn reserves the right to delete it !
Screw up your photo three times and -- strike! -- you’re out. You’ll be banned from uploading your mug ever again. No joke it happens.
Sloppy, cheesy, awkward snaps. Immature, unprofessional lemme-take-a-selfie-style pics that cut it no problem on Instagram, Tinder or Facebook are not for LinkedIn.
The 400 million-plus member site is for professional networking, specifically with past and present colleagues, hiring managers, potential clients and investors, and other hopefully business-related contacts. That said, your headshot should be professional. In other words, safe. Appealing to a wide audience. Some say even a little boring...but less if often more.
So, if you want to put your best professional game face forward on LinkedIn -- and you do, don’t you? -- don’t be guilty of committing these common (and often comical) profile pic sins:
1. The 'I'm so serious I hate life' pic.
Never post a profile pic that makes you look incredibly intense. There are enough mug shot-worthy frowner-downers littering LinkedIn already. Instead, post a happy (but not too I-just-won-the-lottery happy) headshot that shows off what Richard Branson calls your “competitive advantage,” your smile. Go on, let your pearly whites shine or let them see it in your eyes. With a nice, relaxed smile on your face, you generally come off as more approachable and trustworthy, someone a potential employer (or investor or business partner) might be more willing to give a chance. As Psychology Today puts it, “there’s magic in your smile.” It’s scientifically proven. Use it to your advantage.
2. The selfie pout in the mirror pic.
Just please, save your smug, snapped-in-the-bathroom mirror head-to-toe selfies for Facebook. They make you look like an amateur on LinkedIn, even if you look like a boss in your hipster Hugo Boss slim fit suit, or so you think. Come on, by now you should know that selfies of any kind are way too casual for LinkedIn.
3. The full-body inappropriate action pic.
I’m not going to name names (I’m not that mean), but a LinkedIn user I maybe, sort of might be connected with is squatting, half-lunging in her profile pic. In a baggy T-shirt and skin tight black leggings, in the living room, with a background that looks like a bomb has gone off in the kids toy box, boom... yep.. a personal trainer On LinkedIn? Really? Just stop this ...jeeze! Let’s just stick with great headshots, shall we? if you are serious about promoting yourself as a talented personal trainer and entrepreneur this is not a good advert...sorry see more
4. The crazy unreal insta filter pic.
Chill with the funky filters. In fact best you don’t use them at all, not on LinkedIn. Potential employers and clients want to size you up straight up, just as you are, the real you not all filtered and fancy. Its cool I get it but its not for LinkedIn...thats the Instagram's game not your profile on a professional contacts site.
5. Delete that blurry pic.
No one should have to squint to make you out. If your headshot is too fuzzy or pixelated to fix, use a different, clearer pic. Focus, people. This is pretty basic stuff.
6. The 'me and my cute pet' pic.
Here’s an easy rule to remember: Unless you’re a vet or animal rescue worker, please don’t pose with your pet in your profile. As much as you adore cute puppy fluffykins, I’m sorry, he /she is not LinkedIn profile material. You are. Just you. You are the brand you are trying to promote not your love of cute fluff pets.
7. The default LinkedIn silhouette I'm a nobody pic.
Your simply saying you are a bit clueless, and possibly someone who lacks the confidence to back their good name with their own face, you’ll miss out on a bunch of profile views if you choose not to upload a photo at all. If you do post a pic of yourself, LinkedIn says people are 14 times more likely to click on your profile. But make it a good one !
8. The 'crop chop' pic.
Show your face, your whole face and nothing but your face. Or so help you "next job", the one you could have gotten (or kept) because you looked the part on LinkedIn.
Go check your your profile image and ask yourself "is this how I want potential clients, recruiters and the like to see me" believe it LinkedIn is now potentially stage 1 of your next interview... first impressions eh !
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