How should linkedin profile picture look: Polishing Your Professional Identity?

What if I tell you that just by looking at your Linkedin profile picture, recruiters can make an assumption about whether you are professional candidate or not

I’m serious while I say this BRO 

Infact less than 5% of the college students on Linkedin have a “professional” profile picture 

BROO MY PROFILE PICTURE IS PROFESSIONAL, LOOK HOW SMART I’M LOOKING IN THAT

Buddy, sorry to say but your Barcelona beach pictures are not qualified as professional profile picture in the recruitment world 

After analyzing more than 100 of Linkedin profiles and also helping students of NIT, IIT, London Business School, London School Of Economics and employees of Honda, Oracle and UBS build their Linkedin profiles, I have finally cracked the code to draft a well optimized Linkedin profile

After reading this blog, you will get a crystal clear idea about how should a linkedin profile picture look like and you would run to grab your camera and click your picture 

Before diving deeper lets analyse why do you put in so much efforts to click a “professional picture” and read this entire blog

Why do I need a good Linkedin profile picture in the first place?

Linkedin is a goddamn professional platform with no room for your instagram or facebook stuff. There are people way older and experienced than you who have been using Linkedin even before you knew about the platform 

There are some unwritten rules or protocols that you need to adhere to if you want your profile to standout in this crowded market. 

As a recruiter, I’m in search of serious candidates who could do a great job while carrying out serious responsibilities while working in my company

Before I call you over for an interview, I need to make sure that you portray certain levels of professionalism on your Linkedin profile so that I can gain some amount of confidence while making a decision 

Besides, a survey by Jobvite found that 88% of recruiters and hiring managers consider a LinkedIn profile picture imperative when reviewing a candidate’s profile.

Not saying that if you do not have a great profile picture then you won’t be called for an interview. What I’m saying is that if having a great profile picture increases your probability of getting a call from the recruiter and even contributes minimally to the overall decision of shortlisting you then why not give your best in that

Around 40% of users do not have a profile picture, making it harder to stand out, especially when you are among over 700 million users on LinkedIn.   

Imagine that some important guests visit your house to meet you, don’t you think you’ll great them with a smile and give them a warm welcome

Similarly your Linkedin profile is your “house” where recruiters / professionals are the “guests” often visit to check on you and your profile picture is the first thing that they notice.

Don’t you think having the best possible picture that makes them feel great about you happens to be your moral responsibility? 

Ok Great, now you know that having a great profile picture is essential

Let’s get back to the job about “How should linkedin profile picture look like”  

How should linkedin profile picture look : Step by Step Guide 

If I had to answer this in one single word, it would be 

DRUM ROLLS….. DRUM ROLLSS… ARE YOU EXCITED???

Professionallllllll – That’s it 

BRO I KNOW THIS, STOP REPEATING THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN – 

CAN YOU PLEASE ELABORATE ON THIS?

I’ll start by telling you what not to do while selecting a picture for Linkedin

First and foremost, your LinkedIn profile picture should be solely professional. 

This means you should avoid using pictures from casual events, parties, or 

Selfies / photos with pets or significant others. 

Avoid using blurry images or low-quality pictures. Steer clear of these kinds of images as they convey carelessness and unprofessionalism.

Moreover, refrain from using filters or excessive editing on your profile picture, as these can often be unrepresentative of your appearance.

BRO BUT STILL YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED WHAT EXACTLY TO DO FOR A PROFESSIONAL PROFILE PICTURE

Here it is 

1. How should linkedin profile picture look : Professional Headshot 

A Headshot image for your Linkedin profile is considered to be the most professional angle among all the kinds of poses. 

A headshot simply means a picture that covers your hair, head, face, neck and may be little bit of your shoulders 

As a rule of thumb make sure that around 60% of the profile picture is covered with your face.

This will make sure that you do not end up including too much of your other body parts or some other object in the frame. 

Two Rules Of Causion

1. Make sure that you do click a selfie, instead you ask your friend or a photographer to click a picture of you 

2. Make sure that your headshot image follows the ideal dimensions of the Linkedin profile picture which happen to be 400px X 400px. 

2. How should linkedin profile picture look : High Quality Resolution

Make sure that your photograph is of high quality; this means that it should be clear, sharp, and in focus.

If you’re taking a photo with a smartphone or digital camera, try to use the HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature, which will help to balance out the colors and create a more vivid image.

Also, avoid using low-resolution photos, as they tend to come out blurred and grainy.

Rule of Thumb: Choose High Quality Pictures

3. How should linkedin profile picture look : What is the best pose for LinkedIn photo?

While there are no rules associated with the perfect pose as such but again keeping in mind that it’s a serious platform, please avoid anything that is super flashy.

A warm smile and a not so serious direct eye contact is the perfect pose that could work 

BRO BUT DOES A SMILE REALLY WORK AND HOW DO YOU SMILE IN A LINKEDIN PHOTO?

Yes my friends it does work, Infact a study after analysing more than 800 profiles showed that people view you as more likable, competent and influential if you smile

Now, having said that smiling with or without showing your teeth is your personal call. Please analyze yourself infront of the mirror and also observe your past pictures to come to a conclusion for what works for you 

Rule of thumb: A warm smile + direct eye contact + confident posture is the perfect fit  

4. How should linkedin profile picture look : What to wear?

A common question that folks usually ask but again wear something that naturally looks good and something that you’d probably wear to office.

Many of the business schools ask their students to wear suits to get their headshot pictures clicked. 

Wearing formals could be a good option to go ahead with. Avoid super causal and flashy stuff as again they would indicate unprofessional attitude of yours   

Rule of thumb: Choose formals or something decent that complements your skin tone while making you look smart and professional.

5. How should linkedin profile picture look : Non Distracting Background

The focal point of your profile picture should be you and nothing else. Therefore having a background that is not stealing the user’s attention from you is crucial. 

Basically a background that exists yet it is non distracting. Many people tend to use a plain background as a way to completely eliminate distraction. You could possibly do that as well

Or you could go for a background that is not much distracting and yet compliments your avatar 

Rule of thumb: Go for either a plain background or a non distracting one

6. How should a linkedin profile picture look like : Are black and white pictures more professional?

BRO I’VE SEEN A COUPLE OF PEOPLE USE BLACK AND WHITE FILTERS IN THEIR PROFILE PICTURES. ARE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURES MORE PROFESSIONAL?

Yes there are some folks who use black and white filters on their profile picture. Infact even Linkedin offers couple of filters to enhance your profile picture.

Although, a general rule is to avoid any filters but you could possibly adjust contrast and brightness to begin with.

You could also experiment with some filters but please do not end up using something that is too flashy or glittery. Again a personal call but I’ll suggest to go for a natural picture without filters 

Rule of Thumb: Avoid using any glittery and flashy filters  

Conclusion

In the end, coming up with a good profile picture is no rocket science. All the points mentioned above are enough for you to gauge what kind of picture happens to be the best and portray professional qualities. You could also possibly use tools like Snapper or Photofeed to get an idea how does your profile picture look like

However, I’ll suggest not to go so damn deep instead you could ask a couple of your friends to be brutally honest with you interms of their feedback and then possibly iterate after their opinions. You could also reach out to me for an opinion and I’ll be happy to help 🙂