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The WSJ had an article recently entitled, “Is Your LinkedIn Headshot Holding You Back? How to Master a Stylish Professional Portrait,” (gift link) and I thought it might make an interesting discussion here. We’ve talked about headshots before, of course, but we haven’t directly talked about this.

(More specifically: we’ve talked about general best practices for headshots, what to wear for headshots, when to update your headshot, how to work with a corporate photographer’s hair and makeup team, and how to get a great corporate headshot in glasses.)

Here’s the problem, as the article sets it up:

If your headshot is ho-hum, you’re wasting an opportunity to make a memorable first impression, said Andrew Weitz, who runs a personal image consulting firm in Los Angeles. He bemoans all the dated, decades-old profile pics dominating LinkedIn and other work sites (as well as the proliferation of blank, gray circles where actual headshots should be). Like it or not, colleagues and prospective employers will judge that photo, said Tessa West, author of the forthcoming book “Job Therapy” and a professor of psychology at New York University. “Everything from someone’s hair to earrings…influences our unconscious judgments of their personality,” she said. “Those are very difficult to override.” 

The article goes on to note that your appearance should generally be clean and neat but “zhuzhed up,” that you should avoid filters that smooth wrinkles or beautify (they make you look insincere), and that you should “convey the energy you bring into the room.”

The Questions:

Do you guys agree that LinkedIn photos can be an important factor in making a first impression? Do you consider your LinkedIn photo separately from your corporate headshot — to go for something more creative, colorful, or interesting than what the corporate photographer may have steered you towards? If you’re job searching, how high up on your priority list is “new LinkedIn photo”?

(On the other side of things, if you’re dating, how important do you think your LinkedIn photo is? Do you worry that it might be the first impression, perhaps not of an online date, but of their friends and family?)

Stock photo via Deposit Photos / depositphotos19632.