Having a strong LinkedIn profile can be an important factor which can contribute to your successful professional career. One of the best ways to establish a strong LinkedIn profile is to have a solid LinkedIn profile picture. While some people may think that it’s just as simple as choosing a profile picture on other social media accounts, there should be a more serious approach. This article will be the complete guide on how to get a professional LinkedIn photo on your profile including why you need it, tips for choosing the best one, and what you should avoid.
5 Reasons Why You Need a Great LinkedIn Profile Picture
1. Having a professional LinkedIn photo makes you and your profile more credible
To become successful in the corporate world nowadays requires having a high amount of skill and knowledge with the use of social media.
If your profile on LinkedIn does not contain a LinkedIn headshot, you are either not that active or just have a profile that is not up to date. This will not be a good sign for employers that want to learn more about you.
Using a professional LinkedIn photo for your profile picture will immediately help you establish credibility as it shows that you are serious about building deep networks and connections on the platform.
When clients and recruiters see your profile with a photo, they will trust you more and be more open to communicating with you.
2. People will be able to have an easier time recognising you with a LinkedIn profile picture
Having a LinkedIn profile picture does not just benefit you, but it also has a significant benefit for your network as well. When you use a professional LinkedIn photo, it makes you a lot more recognisable to people that you know.
Whether it is someone you know from your college or high school, other social media platforms, or a networking meeting, a great LinkedIn profile picture helps them remember what you look like.
A LinkedIn headshot also does a great job of standing out in search results so that it will be easier for everyone that wants to connect with you to find you.
3. Having a great LinkedIn profile picture allows you to make a solid first impression to your network
What makes LinkedIn so crucial nowadays is that most potential employers will rely on it to have a look at applicants before even contacting them for an in-person interview.
This is because they would want to have a bit of a background before having a more in-depth conversation with you. Knowing this, you should put a lot of thought and effort to your own LinkedIn profile.
When you have a LinkedIn headshot as your profile picture, it gives a great first impression of someone that is dedicated, approachable, and credible.
Potential employers will immediately see that you care about how you present yourself professionally and will be more confident in bringing you in for an interview.
4. You can showcase a bit of your personality through your LinkedIn profile picture
Employers and interviews love checking LinkedIn profiles because it allows them to attach a face to the name of potential applicants before seeing and meeting them in person.
This is your chance to impress employers by having a professional LinkedIn photo as this lets them know that your personality involves being diligent and dedicated to how you present yourself in a professional setting.
5. Getting professional LinkedIn photos have now become more affordable
When you are thinking of hiring a photographer to help you take LinkedIn headshots professionally, one of the things that can make you hesitate is how much you might have to spend for it.
However, when you think about it, having a professional LinkedIn photo will become an affordable expense in the long run as it should have a significant impact with helping you find job opportunities, clients, and partners.
Having a professional photographer take your LinkedIn profile picture will be a worthwhile investment because you can have it for a long time and even have multiple uses for it on different occasions.
If you are looking for professional photographers who can help you take your Linkedin professional headshots so you can use them as your profile picture, then our team at fewStones can help you out.
6 Tips For Choosing the Best LinkedIn Profile Picture
1. Be aware of the guidelines and sizing for LinkedIn profile pictures
The first thing you have to do even before thinking about how to take your profile picture is to be aware and familiar with all of the guidelines and specifications for LinkedIn profile pictures.
Once you are familiar with all of the minimum and recommended requirements of a profile picture, you will have an easier time planning out what kind of photo you will want for your profile.
Here are the guidelines that you should follow for your LinkedIn profile picture so that it does not get rejected:
- The maximum file size your picture can have is 8MB
- LinkedIn profile pictures should be at a minimum of 400 x 400 pixels
- Profile pictures can be larger and can scale up to a maximum of 4320 x 7680 pixels
- The file types that LinkedIn accepts are .PNG, .JPG, and .GIF for their profile pictures
You can also visit this link to view more details on the profile picture guidelines like what photos you should not use: Profile Photo Guidelines and Conditions.
These guidelines are straightforward and easy to comply with but this does not mean that following these will automatically give you an effective profile picture that will help you get more opportunities and connections. There are a lot of factors and tips you should remember so that you can get a high quality LinkedIn headshot.
2. Pick a photo which actually looks like you
This tip may sound too obvious, but it is crucial that your LinkedIn headshot should give your network a clear idea of what you look like if you would meet up right now.
It can be jarring if someone uses a photo that was taken many years ago, when they look completely different right now. They might be wearing glasses now or have a different haircut which could surprise you if your only basis is their LinkedIn profile picture.
Having an outdated professional LinkedIn photo can cast doubts on someone’s credibility because they are not making an effort to show their connections what they look like in the present day.
Remember to keep your profile pictures up to date and that they reflect how you actually look on a daily basis during your work. This can include your hair, glasses, makeup, and even your clothing.
3. Upload a high-resolution photo
Since you will already know what the recommended guidelines are for uploading your LinkedIn profile picture, you should remember to upload a photo with the highest possible resolution under the maximum limit.
Avoid using small, low-resolution photos that just barely go over the minimum recommendations and file size as this makes your profile picture look blurry on your profile.
If the photo that you wanted to upload comes out looking blurry, you should probably choose a different one. This can be the case if you are just trying to take a photo of another photo instead of having an actual photo file.
To make sure you get photos that are of the highest quality, you should strongly consider working with a professional photographer to help you take your LinkedIn headshot.
4. Make sure you are the only person in the photo
While it is great for you to want to show your network that you are collaborative and that you love being a team player, you should only use your own solo photo as a profile picture on LinkedIn.
If there is more than one person in your profile picture, your connections will be unsure which one is actually you. Using a LinkedIn headshot for your profile erases any doubts on that. You can just incorporate a team photo into your profile by using it as your banner picture.
5. Choose the right expression
When you make use of a professional LinkedIn photo on your profile, it is your chance to convey what your personal brand is to clients, customers, and employers.
If you want to portray yourself as being serious, you can choose to have a more serious expression on your profile picture.
However, generally speaking, it is a lot safer to just smile in your LinkedIn headshots as it can help put your connections at ease and make you look more approachable to them.
6. Use clothing that you would actually wear to work
Every industry and workplace has their own different approach when it comes to a dress code and your LinkedIn profile picture can help your connections get a feel for what industry or company you are in right away.
If you usually wear button-downs and jeans most days at work, it’s okay to wear that outfit in your LinkedIn profile picture so that everyone can get a better idea of your office’s dress code. The same principle applies if you always wear a suit and tie every day at work.
3 Things You Should Avoid When Choosing a LinkedIn Profile Picture
1. Avoid using selfies and filters
While selfies are great to use on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, everyone should highly avoid uploading selfies on LinkedIn.
This is because LinkedIn as a social media platform focuses on being more serious and professional. Your profile picture should be able to match the professionalism that can be seen on the website.
You should also avoid using any sort of filters for your profile picture as it detracts from your photo and can also make it look unprofessional and harder for your connections to distinguish what you actually look like.
2. Avoid using a cropped group photo
Similar to one of the previous tips above, you should only upload a solo photo of you and avoid using a cropped group photo.
Even if you love your team, friends, or family, or just want to show that you are social and collaborative to your network, you should not use a photo of you in a group for your LinkedIn profile picture.
Choosing to go with a cropped group photo shows a lack of understanding for what LinkedIn as a platform is and also shows that you are not knowledgeable about how you should present yourself professionally to your network online.
3. Avoid having a background that is distracting
Another thing you should remember when setting up your profile and your LinkedIn profile picture is the background. Avoid using a distracting background as it will distract people from your photo.
It is important that you keep your background simple so that every connection will immediately just focus on your face and profile. Using a plain backdrop is the best option in most cases, especially if you use colours like grey or blue.
Hopefully, after knowing all of this valuable information, you will be able to coordinate with professional photographers so that you can have your own professional LinkedIn photos which you can upload to your profile.
