Why You Need an Original LinkedIn Profile Photo
A LinkedIn profile is a great way to connect with other professionals, find a job, highlight your career achievements, and showcase your professional skills. You need to build a LinkedIn profile to take advantage of all that LinkedIn offers. A great LinkedIn Profile includes a photo that makes you look like a confident professional ready to take on any career challenge. Your profile photo does not have to be taken by a professional, but it needs to be a clear photo of you alone, a “headshot,” head and shoulders, with a smile or a pleasant look, which is much more engaging than a serious expression.
Many avoid taking the time to shoot a profile picture. They are tempted to find a photo on their camera and upload it. A picture taken with a phone camera can become a great LinkedIn profile photo if you follow a few simple steps.
Dos and Don’ts of Taking a Profile Photo:
- Do choose a shirt or top without a logo or a distracting pattern.
- Don’t wear a sleeveless shirt or top.
- Do make sure that your phone camera is at the highest resolution. Taking a photo with a higher resolution will produce a clearer and sharper photo.
- Don’t take a selfie; have someone take your picture. This will allow you to relax instead of worrying about taking the photo. Have the photo taker stand about 4-6 feet away, close enough to get the head and shoulders with some room for cropping. Have them use Portrait Mode if available.
- Don’t Zoom in. This distorts the photo and may make the image blurry or low-quality. Also, the front screen or selfie camera is a lower-resolution camera, and you cannot use the portrait feature.
- Do take at least five photos so you have several to choose from. Take a minute to look at the photos after taking them, and confirm that one or two will work for a profile picture.
- Do stand in front of a neutral background. A neutral background can include a blank wall or trees.
- Do consider lighting. Natural lighting is the best. Direct Sunlight can often be harsh. Fluorescent lighting, common in classrooms and offices, often creates an image that is washed out or has a green or yellow tinge.
- Don’t take a Full-length photo. Have the focus be on your head and shoulders.
- Do Strike a Power Pose and Smile. Crossing your arms shows confidence, and smiling makes you look more engaged.
Don’t Forget to Edit
Once you have picked the photo you want for your profile, use Edit to crop your photo into a square, framing your head and shoulders. You can also use the Edit feature to improve the photo by using exposure, contrast, saturation, or shadows. Don’t over-edit. Your LinkedIn profile photo needs to show the authentic you, not an over-edited or glamorized version.
Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile and Connect
Now that you have the perfect profile photo, you may want to review the ProfSpeak blog post How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile to help you build or update your LinkedIn Profile. Make sure to be active and build a Professional Presence on LinkedIn by posting and finding new connections. After you have worked on your LinkedIn profile and uploaded your new profile photo, look me up and connect with me, Elaina Cantrell Robinson. I would be happy to be one of your connections.
