There is a lot of debate about whether or not you should include a photo of yourself on your LinkedIn profile. Most of us don't include one with resumes we send out, and recruiters scan through online profiles like they're browsing through resumes.
If you do include a photo, you are allowing yourself the chance to be discriminated against, but if you don't include one, people may wonder why there's no photo since the majority of profiles have one.
Miriam Salpeter at U.S. News & World Report says that not having a photo on your LinkedIn profile will make others assume that you're either "really ugly" or "don't know how to upload a picture."
Most of the users on LinkedIn believe that it benefits them to have a picture on their profile
In a study conducted by TheLadders, an eye tracking heatmap shows that recruiters spend 19 percent of the total time they spend on your profile looking at your picture. Then, your current job position and education are glanced at, but not so much time is spent on your skills, specialties or older work experiences.
The "eye tacking" technique examined the eye movements of 30 professional recruiters during a 10-week period to "record and analyze where and how long someone focuses when digesting a piece of information or completing a task."
So should you include a picture on your LinkedIn profile? Mark Jaffe at CBS says "maybe." The bottom line is that it's supposed to help propel your job search and career, not be a hindrance against it.
Jaffe writes:
Same goes for your mug. Can we see your face clearly? Is it strictly business? Was the photo professionally done? Does it improve on your qualifications? Finally ... are you attractive enough to be judged on looks alone? Because that's what you're inviting people to do. And you can't have it both ways, hoping to add cachet but claiming discrimination if you wind up getting rejected before the first date.
If it's a solid asset, great, use it -- as long as you're absolutely certain that it projects the soul of professionalism. But keep in mind you may be dismissed from consideration regardless of your credentials -- which quite possibly will never be examined -- because you're bald, overweight, too young, too old, wearing the wrong suit or, cruelest and most unreasonable of all, too beautiful for your own good.
If it's a solid asset, great, use it -- as long as you're absolutely certain that it projects the soul of professionalism. But keep in mind you may be dismissed from consideration regardless of your credentials -- which quite possibly will never be examined -- because you're bald, overweight, too young, too old, wearing the wrong suit or, cruelest and most unreasonable of all, too beautiful for your own good.
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