Eric Mansur: Your LinkedIn Profile Photo – Old High School Grad Photo? Too casual? Smile or Serious?
We all experience the evident dilemma of what to choose for our LinkedIn photo. Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn is the networking pipeline to forming and maintaining business relationships. Your profile picture can make or break your profile. Employers and recruiters tend to sway their initial gaze to your profile pic. Do they seem professional? Are they diligent in their work? Are they ambitious? A good LinkedIn photo can hook the attention of a recruiter and give them a reason to look further into your skills and experience. As everyone says, first impressions go a long way! Your online impression goes a long way too!
Two of my housemates, Chris Lee (’23) and Max Raynal (’23), who were both beginning internship applications, needed an updated photo for their profile. “Eric, you got to help me out! I can’t stick with this high school lacrosse team photo,” Chris told me. We grabbed my Sony Rebel T5 camera and walked over to the Mission Gardens clean shaven and professionally dressed. Initially, I really did not have much photographic talent; the camera does all the work. With the proper light and tasteful background, I was able to snap quality profile photos that express the best qualities in Chris Lee and Max Raynal. From there, I made a gig out of it.
All in all, make the extra effort to get a quality photo for your professional profile! A good visual can depict your work ethic, professionalism, character, and personality. Here are a couple of shots I snapped for friends that wanted to go the extra (s)mile.