What makes a good LinkedIn photo?
It looks like you, on a good day, this year.
People see it before they meet you. If the person who walks into the meeting looks ten years older than the photo, that’s the first thing they notice.
How should it be framed?
LinkedIn shows it as a small circle, so your face should fill most of it. Head and shoulders, a little room above your hair, and your eyes about a third of the way down.
Crops from a wedding or a group shot give themselves away. You can usually see someone’s shoulder.
What should be behind me?
Something simple that doesn’t fight your face. A bit of your office, a window or some greenery, softly blurred, says more about you than a plain wall.
Smile or serious?
However you’d look across the table from a client you like. For most people that’s a real smile, with your eyes in it.
Is a phone photo good enough?
For a start, yes. Stand facing a window, hold the phone at eye level or have someone else take it, and take a lot.
When it matters more, like a job search, a sales role or a speaker bio, get a real portrait. I’ve been taking portraits for large teams at businesses around Northern Virginia, and if your whole team needs new ones, a session at the office gets everyone the same look.
More is on Individual portraits, and the team sessions are on Portraits at coworking spaces. Before you book, what to wear is worth a read.
