If you are going to spend time writing a profile, make sure you update the LinkedIn profile photo.
For you, for me, for all of us.
A few years back, I wrote a comprehensively snarky post about LinkedIn profiles and headshots you should never use. Unfortunately, there are still offenders five years later.
So here we are. We have to have this conversation again.
Here are a few LinkedIn profile photos you should never post.
- The photo from that wedding where I can tell you’re lit. Drunk professional only works for actors who have already made it.
- Angry faces. At least try to make someone believe you’re a nice person.
- Headshots will not be taken in your bathroom. I can see your toilet, and it’s weird.
- Glamour shots. I’m not sure that the actual hub in the mall still exists, so I’m not clear how these even persist. Or why the back of your head is illuminated. Or why you have more makeup on than Dolly Parton. I have a lot of questions, none of which is, “do you want a job?”
- Pictures of you with your partner, kids, or dog. I love dogs, but this profile has one job – tell your story. Your photo goes in the box.
- Cartoon characters of any sort, even caricatures. I know you’re not Batman, and I don’t want to know about any strange obsessions you have. Weird me out during the call, not before.
- Photos of you on the phone. It’s cheesy, even if you are in sales. I get it. You make phone calls.
- No costumes of any sort. This includes the dog Snapchat filter and making a duck face.
- The awkward “wait is that a person?” In this case, you’re in the picture, but the camera is about 100 feet away, so you take up about a 1×1 pixel.
- Shirtless photos.
OK, now I know recruiters take screenshots. Let’s see it. Post the worst LinkedIn profile photos you’ve ever seen in the comments. Remember, you’re not mean. We’re educating the youth.