In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for career success. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, plays a pivotal role in this, especially in an online world.
LinkedIn is important
- as it allows you to connect with professionals in your field, helping you to build a robust network. Whether you're seeking job opportunities, partnerships, or mentorship, LinkedIn is the place to be.
- Your LinkedIn profile serves as your personal brand. It’s a platform where you can showcase your skills, experiences, and accomplishments. A well-crafted profile can set you apart from others in your industry.
- Many recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn to find candidates. By having a comprehensive and updated profile, you increase your chances of being discovered for relevant job openings.
Research has shown that a person’s attention span is around 8 seconds. You have 8 seconds to impress and a good LinkedIn profile photo can attract people's attention and show your professionalism.
Below is some information that might help you have a better LinkedIn profile photo
1. Select an Appropriate Background
Keep It Simple: A plain, neutral background ensures that the focus remains on you. Avoid cluttered or distracting backgrounds. Solid coloured background is always better. Since we are talking about profile photos for LinkedIn, it’s better to choose neutral, solid colour, like black, grey or white. These are the best to show your professionalism.
2. Dress to Impress
Industry Standards: Dress according to the norms of your industry. For most fields, business attire is a safe bet. In creative industries, a more casual look might be appropriate.
Solid Colors and Simple Patterns: Stick to solid colors or simple patterns to avoid distracting the viewer from your face.
3. Frame Your Face
Close-Up Focus: Your face should occupy about 60% of the frame, ensuring that viewers can clearly see your features. In general, waist up or shoulders up photos look the best for professional headshots. Also remember that your profile photo on LinkedIn is a small thumbnail, so you might have to crop a bit tight.
Friendly Expression: A slight, genuine smile can make you appear approachable and professional. Researchers in Switzerland found that a happy expression could even compensate for relative unattractiveness. So, if you are worried about how you look, smile! If you are not looking at the camera, smiling or not, didn’t seem to make a difference. The research shows a smile showing some teeth were considered more competent, likeable and influential than a smile with mouth closed.
4. Don’t Use a Selfie for your Profile Photo
Selfies, most of the time don’t work. Let me explain why. Our face looks very different when photographed at a different distance with camera lenses in different focal lengths. To make ourselves look the best, we need to choose a focal length and shooting distance wisely. Your professional headshots photographer will take care of this for you. When you are taking a selfie, your shooting distance will be your arm length. This is not an ideal shooting distance. Many smartphones use wide angle lenses which have a lot of lens distortion, your face will look very different when you photograph yourself this way - and not always in a pleasant way.
5. Optimize Your Lighting
Good lighting can enhance your features and diminish skin imperfection. For professional headshots, soft light is what most professional photographers choose. Many of them use studio strobe lights with large light modifiers. They create consistent and soft light. Not only is the quality much better, they don’t have to rely on the weather. If you wish to shoot outdoors then make use of good natural light as it is the most flattering, and ensure your face is evenly lit. Position yourself near a window but not in the direct light which creates a hard light.
6. Edit Wisely
This final step can always make your profile stand out more. Good editing and retouching will improve colour balance, eliminate skin imperfections. Editing can also enhance the overall look of your image, by fine tuning the contrast, sharpness and saturation. This is one of the reason why a professional photographer is used.
Final Thoughts
Your LinkedIn profile photo is a key element of your personal brand. Investing time and money in getting it right can significantly impact your professional opportunities. Remember, your photo is often the first impression you make, so ensure it accurately represents your professional identity.
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