LinkedIn Profile Photo. How to look Professional for Potential Employers.

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Jagadeesh Kumar quote: ‘A photo can speak more than what a thousand words can speak’. Looking at this quote, we all look at this as a positive thing, but it can have a negative slant as well. Your LinkedIn profile photo introduces you to potential employers and clients. Get that wrong, and you might as well write a thousand words about what a poor employee you would be.

As mentioned many times on our blog, your LinkedIn profile photo is the first impression any employee gets from your Linkedin page. You do not get a second chance to make a good first impression, so when your potential employer is going through many job applicants, a poor LinkedIn profile photo will do you no favours.

Based on the LinkedIn analysis, simply adding a good picture increases your profile’s visibility by 14 times and increases your chances of receiving a response by 36 times. Let us suggest a few tips to help you look professional in your profile photo.

Get the right background. Be aware of what is behind you when you are getting your LinkedIn profile photo taken. It can be a plain background or an office environment which suggests professionalism. Do not have a non related business background. You might like the photo your friend or partner captured of you on holiday, but boats and palm trees are really not suitable.

Go to a professional portrait photographer. They will have access to studio lighting and a long portrait lens, which all contribute to making you look more professional in your LinkedIn profile photo.

Dress like you are going for your first job interview. Please do not overdo it but look like you are proud to be going to work and that you have made an effort. Remember looking like you are working from home is not going to look professional.

Do not cut corners if you want to look professional. A selfie on LinkedIn will make you look unprofessional and may even be a bit disrespectful toward potential employers.

LinkedIn Profile Photo. How to look Professional for Potential Employers.

Professional LinkedIn Profile Photo.

Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn profile photos.

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Here is a list of FAQs we receive before undertaking a LinkedIn profile photo commission.

1. How long will it take? We allow 30 mins for a typical LinkedIn profile photo commission. Sometimes people want to utilise the entire 30 mins to explore a wide variety of LinkedIn profile headshots. Other people prefer things to happen quickly, so we capture a professional corporate headshot with a white background, and they can view the image before them getting back to work.

2. How many Linkedin profile photos will I receive? This, again, depends on how long the individual wants to spend in the studio. On average, we capture around 40 profile photos, and we send all of these via our wetransfer site. From these the client can select a couple they are going to use on their LinkedIn profile page, and we photoshop them for LinkedIn.

3. How much does a LinkedIn profile photo cost? We charge £150 plus VAT for individuals to come to our studio, or we can bring our studio set-up, which includes lighting and background roll to your London offices. The results will be identical, whichever location you prefer.

4. How long does it take to get the profile photos back to me? We can turn around the headshots the next day, and once we have the preferred headshots for editing and retouching, we can return these the following day. So all in all, approx 48 hours. For urgent updates with a new LinkedIn profile photo commission, we can turn things around within 24 hours.

5. Can I come to your studio for my new LinkedIn profile photo? Yes, we are currently using an office room in Beech Street, which is easily accessible from The City or the West End. We are open from 9 am to 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday. You can book via https://www.corporatephotographerslondon.com/contact/, and please do not turn up without an appointment as we are often out working in London offices.

6. Why are professional LinkedIn profile photos so expensive? Simple to answer. Professional photographer, high-quality studio lighting, background roll and stands, travelling to clients’ offices and studio hire costs. You can avoid these costs and get a friend to take a portrait on their phone, but you can see on LinkedIn who has cut corners on their profile photo and who will be getting the business benefits and has a professional LinkedIn profile photo.

Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn profile photos.

Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn profile photos.

Why you must have a good quality LinkedIn profile photo.

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We often post articles about the benefits of having a quality LinkedIn profile photo and here are a few more reasons why you should do this. LinkedIn guidelines say that if your profile photo is not a good likeness of yourself then it can be removed. If they remove your poor quality profile photo you can upload another one. If they remove your profile photo 3 times you will not be able to upload another photo and your profile image will go back to the default image. Having the default LinkedIn profile image makes your profile page look amateurish because it appears you could not be bothered to complete your profile. Another reason for uploading a quality LinkedIn profile photo is that if you try and upload other types of images these will also be removed. You might want to promote your company rather than yourself on Linkedin but uploading a company or business logo as your profile photo will result in it being removed by Linkedin. As will images of Landscapes, animals and any words and phrases. Overall be careful with what you upload as your profile photo as it is three strikes and you are out and that is a hazardous position when you are using LinkedIn as a professional.

If you commission a professional LinkedIn profile photo check with the headshot photographer prior to the shoot that they will format the finished headshot for use on LinkedIn. These are the guidelines from LinkedIn on profile and background photos specifications.

  • The maximum file size is 8MB.
  • Profile photo: Pixel size is between 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels and 7680 (w) x 4320 (h) pixels. We recommend adding a photo that won’t require much cropping. You can adjust the photo after it has been uploaded.
  • Background photo: Recommended pixel dimensions are 1584 (w) x 396 (h) pixels. Learn more about adding or editing background photos.
  • The file type must be PNG or JPG. Note: We don’t support GIFs.

If it still won’t upload, try again using a different browser. If that doesn’t work, follow the instructions below to compress and save your profile photo as a PNG file and then upload it to your profile.

Why you must have a good quality LinkedIn profile photo.

Good quality LinkedIn profile photo sample headshot.

What to expect from a professional LinkedIn headshot shoot.

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Tips on your LinkedIn headshot shoot.

If you have made the decision to commission a professional LinkedIn headshot shoot then here is a list of things you should expect to be included. Having picked the photographer you would like to use you will need to establish the style of LinkedIn profile photo you want to be captured. The style will determine if the shoot will be using studio lighting and your choice of background colour or on location with an office or cityscape backdrop. 

You should expect the photographer to be using a long lens sometimes known as a portrait lens on your LinkedIn headshot shoot. The reason for this is that a long lens will compress the headshot which gives a more flattering portrait. A standard lens or wide-angle lens is not suitable for headshots as they will distort the face and make the centre features look bigger. The other benefit of a long lens is that the photographer will be further away from you which is less intrusive so you will look more relaxed in your LinkedIn headshot. Although the photographer is at least 3 metres from you the long lens will still be capturing a close-up headshot showing in your best light.
With regards to lighting the headshot, you should expect the photographer to be using off-camera flash lighting. If they have a flash on camera then the lighting will be too direct which is harsh and can result in red-eye. A couple of flash lighting units should be on stands with good quality diffusers or softboxes to balance out the lighting and create a soft and professional lighting source.
The photographer should give you direction on how to stance and facial expressions. You should expect a good variety of poses and expressions so that when you come to select you have a good variety to choose from.
Make sure you agree prior to the shoot what the photographer will include regarding post-production work. Ask to see samples of their retouching skills and find out how many headshots they will agree to work on within the agreed cost. Most people are unaware of how advanced digital make-up has become and a skilled photo editor can change backgrounds, remove spots and scares and make you look fresh and turned out well. Remember you should ask to see the before and after post-production samples as photo editing work needs to be subtle and you should not be able to see any evidence of this being carried out on the final LinkedIn profile photo.
For more tips and suggestions about creating quality profile photos for your LinkedIn page.
Sample showing a quality LinkedIn headshot photo from a professional photographer

Sample showing a quality LinkedIn headshot photo from a professional photographer