One of the easiest things to do right on your Profile is to have a good Profile picture.
Why then do so many people do it wrong?
LinkedIn wants a headshot.
I want a CLOSEUP of the headshot.
You might have a great, professional picture, but if your head takes up less than 50% of the picture, I’ll tell you to zoom in!
I often see Profile pictures where the person’s head is 1/6th or 1/12th of the entire image. The image is already small, people! ZOOM IN! I want to see facial characteristics. I don’t care who cool the background is!
Aside from that, here are some turnoffs I’ve seen on Profile pictures:
- ZERO facial details. When the picture is more than just your body, like you in front of a building or a tree, and I can’t make out anything from your face. I’ve seen this more than once!
- Casual clothing. The worst was a sweaty t-shirt that looks like the person just got done running a race. On LinkedIn? Really?
- Distracting backgrounds. I recently saw one where there was a bright light in the background, which was very distracting and didn’t allow me to see your face well.
- Bad coloring. Make sure you get good lighting and a good background, and where the right clothes… I’m no expert in color and contrast, but I’ve seen pictures where there are really hardly any features because of a bad choice of color.
- No personality. Smile. It’s really as easy as that. Look like you are a nice, approachable person.
The list could go on and on… the one easy fix for most of them is to ZOOM IN!
