The Key to a Good Headshot (and why a bad one is hurting you more than you think)

Written by ls2group

When I’m hiring a new employee or intern, the first thing I do – which, let’s be real, is what everyone does – is look them up on social media.

On Facebook, I expect to see a family photo, picture from a vacation, or a shot with friends. It’s Facebook, and that’s the main purpose of the site.

Then, I hop to LinkedIn. I expect to see a completely different picture here, and I always cringe when I don’t. More often than not I see a photo similar to Facebook, and I wonder if the person has any idea what this says about them as a potential employee. I see bad cropping, out of focus snapshots, and obvious party pics every time I log on to LinkedIn. Honestly, if you’re job hunting (or internship-hunting) consider your Facebook and Twitter profile pictures along with LinkedIn.

I know it’s not fair to ‘judge a book by its cover,’ but it’s impossible to not react to what I consider some of the biggest missteps with a headshot, many of which are easy to correct.

No picture: Come on! I know you have 200 pictures on your phone, and if one of those isn’t appropriate, ask a friend to take one and you can have it uploaded in two minutes. There’s no excuse to not have a picture.

Blurry or too small: When I see someone with a blurry picture or one that is so tiny I can hardly make our their features, I immediately think the person doesn’t pay attention to detail or is even a bit lazy. These are not qualities I want in someone on my team.

Awkward crop: When you can see half of another person’s body in the picture, this doesn’t make for a good headshot. This type of photo often goes with:

Inappropriate clothing: If you’ve cropped your friends out of a group picture where you’re very obviously partying and/or wearing casual, ripped or revealing clothing, do not put this on LinkedIn. You can imagine what sort of message you’re sending.

It’s incredibly simple to take a good headshot, which is why I’m always baffled when someone has a bad one.

Here are a few tips to help you make sure your profile picture is sending all of the right messages: approachable, friendly, confident, capable, and someone the person looking at the photo would want to work with.

1. Wear simple clothing that reflects your personality. You don’t have to wear a suit, but choose a nice shirt or sweater if a suit isn’t really your style.

2. Stand three to five feet away from a simple background. If you’re outdoors, face the light source.

3. Angle your shoulders just a bit. Take a deep breath and smile. Have a bit of fun so it doesn’t look forced!

4. Crop! Crop the photo so it only shows your shoulders and up. You don’t need a full-body shot. That’s why it’s called a headshot.

This can all be done on your phone and quickly uploaded. I know you know how to do that part.

To be fair, here’s my current LinkedIn headshot.

With these steps, it is really simple to take a nice headshot and update your social media or your personal website. When you get a call right away for that interview: you’re welcome.