Having a professional and appealing profile picture is critical for making a good first impression on LinkedIn. With over 800 million members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform and serves as an online resume for many professionals. While the content of your profile matters, the profile photo is often the very first thing people will notice when visiting your page. An unflattering or inappropriate photo can negatively impact connections and job opportunities before viewers even read your profile.
To help avoid common profile photo mistakes, here are some tips on what makes for a bad LinkedIn profile picture and how to choose an appropriate, professional headshot instead.
Using an overly casual photo
One of the biggest mistakes people make with LinkedIn photos is using a casual snapshot instead of a professional headshot. While you may use fun, casual photos on personal social media sites, LinkedIn is meant for business networking and employment searches. Posting a photo of you hanging out with friends, playing sports, wearing a bathing suit, or other casual situations sends the wrong message for the professional platform.
Similarly, you’ll want to avoid using old dated photos like a childhood picture, wild college partying shots, or any other unprofessional memories. Posting these nostalgic photos means you don’t have a proper professional photo to use, which raises questions.
The most appropriate profile photos are headshot style portraits taken specifically for business and networking purposes. Wear professional attire like a nice shirt or blouse, make sure you are well-groomed, and have a neutral facial expression or slight smile. This sends the message you take your image seriously.
Using distracting backgrounds
Just like having a casual photo, choosing a picture with a distracting background can take away from your professional look. Avoid photos where the background is cluttered, messy, or draws attention away from you. Examples include photos taken in:
- Your bedroom with an unmade bed and piles of clothes visible.
- A crowded bar or party setting with lots of people and activity behind you.
- A vacation landscape where the beautiful scenery steals the focus.
- Your living room with clutter and distracting decorations/art visible.
Again, the focus of your LinkedIn photo should be an up-close, clean headshot of just you. The background should be as minimal and non-distracting as possible. A photo taken against a blank wall, solid colored backdrop, or simple office setting is ideal.
Appearing unprofessional
Along with casual clothing and messy backgrounds, there are several other ways your photo can inadvertently appear unprofessional:
- Looking disheveled with messy hair, poor hygiene, wrinkled clothes, etc.
- Making an inappropriate facial expression like sticking your tongue out, holding up their middle finger, etc.
- Posing with alcohol, cigarettes, vaping, or any other questionable behavior.
- Heavy filtering that distorts your appearance and looks artificially edited.
- Blurry, pixelated, or low-quality photos that look poorly taken.
- Appearing overly sexy, provocative, or intimate.
- Group shots where you blend in and aren’t clearly visible.
Anything that projects unprofessionalism should be avoided. Make sure you appear well put together, confident, approachable, and business-ready.
Wearing the wrong attire
While casual clothing and bathing suits are definite no-nos, wearing the wrong professional attire can also hurt your profile. Although you want to look business-appropriate, wearing a full suit and tie or other corporate attire can appear overly rigid and stodgy on networking sites like LinkedIn.
The standard recommendation for LinkedIn photos is business casual. For men, wear a nice button-down shirt or polo in a solid color or subtle pattern. Avoid loud prints or anything with words/logos. Pair it with khaki pants or dark trousers. For women, wear a flattering blouse, sweater, or top in an elegant solid color or print. Pair with dress pants, a skirt, or well-cut trousers. You can’t go wrong sticking to traditional business casual for the most universal appeal.
Appearing too posed or staged
While professional headshots are recommended, appearing overly posed can also hurt your profile. If the photo looks like a stiff studio portrait with weird lighting, heavy editing, and an unnatural faked smile, it may work against you.
The goal is to appear confident and professional while also seeming approachable, friendly, and authentic. You want to look like your genuine self, not an overly staged model. Having some natural expressions and postures in the photo will help with this. Just don’t go too far in the casual direction.
Using an outdated photo
Having a clean-cut professional photo is great, but one mistake people make is failing to update it regularly. If you are using a profile photo from 5, 10, or even 20+ years ago, it’s going to create confusion and misrepresentation.
Make sure you periodically update your LinkedIn headshots so they reflect what you currently look like. Major changes like aging, hair styles, facial hair, glasses, etc. can make old photos unrecognizable or unattractive. You don’t necessarily have to update it every year, but after major changes, consider having a new one taken.
Poor framing and cropping
Even if you have a great professional headshot, poor framing and cropping can detract from it:
- Cropping is too tight and awkwardly cuts off your neck/head.
- Cropping is too loose with excess background and space around you.
- You are not centered within the photo’s frame.
- Your facial proportions look distorted.
- You are angled instead of straight on to the camera.
Take a close look at the framing and cropping and make sure it highlights you properly. You want to fill up most of the frame from about chest level up with a direct centered angle on your face.
Forgetting to smile
One of the biggest complaints employers and connections have about LinkedIn photos is people forgetting to smile. While you don’t want a crazy fake grin, failing to smile at all makes you appear miserable, intimidating, and unapproachable.
Make sure to smile naturally and add some likability to your photo. A warm smile puts people at ease and draws them in as they look through your profile.
Poor lighting and image quality
Even using the right background, pose, attire, and cropping can be ruined by poor photographic quality:
- The lighting is too dark, bright, or uneven on your face.
- Your face is partly concealed by shadows.
- The image is grainy, pixilated, or low resolution.
- The colors appear washed out or do not represent your natural skin tones.
- There is distracting lens flare, glare, or flash reflections.
Make sure to inspect the overall image quality and lighting. It may be worth hiring a professional photographer to ensure optimal photo quality and appeal.
Appearing overly sexy or provocative
While LinkedIn is more buttoned up than social media sites, some people make the mistake of appearing too sexy or provocative in their profile photos. Things to avoid include:
- Wearing low cut tops, miniskirts, or other revealing attire.
- Pouting excessively or giving sultry gazes.
- Posing in overly flirty or intimate ways.
- Focusing too much on your cleavage or other assets.
- Wearing excessive makeup or jewelry.
- Appearing too tousled and glamorous.
Keep in mind LinkedIn is meant for establishing professional connections, not finding dates. Keep your look attractive but modest and focused on showcasing your abilities.
Using memes or novelty images
While humor can help connect with others, avoid going too far with novelty images like memes, cartoons, animals, or other gimmicky photos as your profile picture. While they may get attention, many employers see these types of photos as highly unprofessional.
Keep in mind this photo represents you and will appear next to your name when connecting with new people. Take your profile photo seriously by using a traditional headshot rather than experimental novelty images.
Allowing poor replication on mobile
With LinkedIn available as mobile apps on smartphones and tablets, you need to make sure your profile photo looks good on small screens. Some things to watch for include:
- Excessive cropping and zooming in on mobile layouts.
- Blurred or pixelated images when condensed.
- Washed out colors and loss of detail.
- Unflattering lighting and shadows.
- Distracting backgrounds becoming more visible.
View your profile on mobile devices and tweak the photo as needed to ensure it replicates well. Mobile networking is crucial so don’t neglect this aspect.
Appearing brooding or unfriendly
Even if you have a nice professional photo, appearing brooding or unfriendly can hurt your profile. Things to avoid include:
- Frowning, grimacing, or staring blankly.
- Crossing your arms or other closed off body language.
- Minimal facial expression and emotionless stares.
- Dark, moody, or suspicious gazes.
- Scowling, sneering, or appearing angry.
The goal is to appear pleasant and approachable, not brooding. Smiling naturally helps avoid this in photos. You want to look confident yet friendly.
Wearing sunglasses or hats
Some additional no-no’s for LinkedIn headshots include wearing sunglasses and hats in your profile photo. While fine for the beach or other casual use, in headshots they hide your face and eyes too much. Avoid:
- Sunglasses covering your eyes.
- Hats casting shadows over your face.
- Dramatic or showy hats distracting from you.
Make sure your eyes are clearly visible and nothing interferes with the clarity of facial features. You want viewers to see you, not your accessories.
Appearing arrogant or cocky
While you want to project confidence in your photo, appearing arrogant, egotistical, or cocky can also damage perceptions. Things to avoid include:
- Smug expressions and overconfidence.
- Intimidating poses putting others down.
- Dramatic gestures drawing attention to yourself.
- Openly bragging about achievements in your caption.
- Talking down to others or appearing superior.
The goal is friendly confidence and approachability, not arrogance. Think warm, humble, and positive when choosing your photo and profile messaging.
Inappropriate hand gestures
Seemingly small things like hand placement and gestures can also affect your professionalism in profile photos:
- Hands on your hips in a standoffish pose.
- Crossed arms in a closed off gesture.
- Pointing fingers towards the camera.
- Inappropriate or provocative gestures.
- Unnatural hand placement that draws attention.
Keeping hands relaxed at your sides or folded naturally often works best. Avoid gestures that appear standoffish or invite the wrong type of attention.
Appearing stiff and uncomfortable
Even if you have a great headshot, appearing overly stiff, rigid, and uncomfortable can hurt your approachability. Some things to avoid include:
- Standing upright and tense like a soldier.
- Looking nervously at the camera with a frozen smile.
- Minimal facial movement or blank expressions.
- Appearing obviously posed instead of natural.
- Just generally looking uncomfortable being photographed.
Try to relax and be yourself. Loosen up your body language and facial expressions. This helps you appear at ease and approachable.
Wearing too much makeup
For women posting professional headshots, wearing too much makeup can damage perceptions:
- Thick, heavy makeup that looks caked on.
- Dramatic eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, etc.
- Unnatural contouring and highlighting.
- Overly defined and distracting brows.
- Long, thick lashes that appear fake.
- Bronzed skin that does not match your neck/hands.
The goal is for makeup to look natural, polished, and subtle. Avoid anything overly dramatic that draws the focus away from your abilities.
Trying too hard or looking “salesy”
Some other turnoffs for LinkedIn profile photos include looking like you are trying too hard to sell yourself or coming across as inauthentic:
- Cheesy poses and expressions.
- Corny smiles that lack authenticity.
- Over-the-top enthusiasm.
- Contrived messaging in captions.
- Staging that looks obviously fake.
- Basically anything that screams “salesy”.
Avoid gimmicks and instead focus on classic, clean professional headshots. Let your image and profile do the talking.
Conclusion
A poor profile photo can immediately turn off networking contacts and prospective employers. To avoid first impression fails, ditch the casual shots and inappropriate poses for a proper headshot that makes you look professional, approachable, and confidence. Pay close attention to your image quality, framing, attire, facial expressions, and other details. With over 800 million members, you want to stand out positively in LinkedIn’s crowded newsfeed and searches. A great profile photo helps make an excellent – and memorable – first impression.
