LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 722 million users worldwide. Having a professional looking LinkedIn profile, including a polished profile photo, is crucial for making a good first impression and portraying your personal brand. Your photo acts as your digital handshake and shows up alongside your name, headline, experience and recommendations, so it’s important that it looks professional and approachable. But with so many options, guidelines and recommendations out there, it can be confusing to know exactly how professional your LinkedIn profile photo should look.
Why does your LinkedIn profile picture matter?
Your LinkedIn profile picture is one of the first things people will notice about your profile. It helps put a face to your name and gives viewers their very first impression of you. Studies show it takes just 50 milliseconds for people to form an opinion about someone new based on their profile photo alone. So having a polished, professional-looking headshot can help you portray credibility and trustworthiness at a glance.
Additionally, your photo makes your profile stand out and gives you a competitive edge. With so many LinkedIn profiles out there, having an eye-catching yet appropriate photo makes you more memorable. Recruiters have also reported judging candidates based on their LinkedIn photos, so it certainly pays to make a good impression.
LinkedIn’s photo guidelines
LinkedIn provides some guidelines for acceptable profile photos:
- Photos should only show your face – no sunglasses or hats that obscure your appearance.
- Headshots work best – zoomed out full body shots distract from you.
- Smiling is recommended to portray approachability.
- Mirror selfies, overly casual photos, and party pictures should be avoided.
- Photos should be high quality – blurry, pixelated shots won’t do you any favors.
These basic rules help keep photos professional. But beyond that, there’s still a fair amount of flexibility in terms of styling.
Consider your industry and goals
How professional your photo should look depends largely on your industry, company culture and goals on LinkedIn. Conservative fields like banking, finance, law and academia typically call for more formal business headshots. While more casual startups and creative agencies might embrace stylized or candid shots.
Think about the impression you want to give based on your target audience and aim for a photo that aligns with it. Recruiters have reported judging candidate’s suitability based on how professional their LinkedIn photo looks for a given role or company.
Here are some tips tailored to different industries and objectives:
Corporate and professional services
For corporate environments and professional services like law, accounting, banking and consulting, traditional business headshots are best:
- Wear corporate attire like a suit, dress shirt or blazer.
- Style your hair neatly and avoid bold/unnatural colors.
- Minimal jewelry and no visible tattoos.
- Simple solid color background is ideal.
- Warm smile but avoid laughing shots.
The goal is to look polished, professional and corporate. Formal business headshots align with the conservative culture at most large established companies.
Startups and creative agencies
For startups, tech companies and creative agency roles, you typically have more flexibility:
- Business casual is often acceptable.
- Backgrounds can be more stylized – brick walls, bookshelves, etc.
- Posed candid shots are fine as long as clear and high quality.
- Accessories like eyeglasses are OK.
- Hair can be more natural and casual.
The culture at these types of companies is often more relaxed. The focus is more on looking approachable and authentic vs overly corporate.
Personal branding
If you’re primarily using LinkedIn to build your personal brand or promote a creative passion project, you have the most flexibility:
- Stylized or conceptual photos aligning with your brand are great.
- No need to look corporate if that’s not your niche.
- Can showcase your personality and interests through props, clothing, etc.
- Colors, textures, visuals should all coordinate with your brand identity.
For personal branding, your photo can help express your uniqueness. But quality and clarity is still key – no distracting or unprofessional shots.
Photo composition tips
Beyond your level of formality, some standard photography best practices apply:
Framing
- Subject (your head) should take up 60-70% of the frame.
- Shot should be from chest level or slightly above – avoid low angles.
- Leave a small amount of space above your head.
- Eyes should be around the top 1/3 line of the photo.
This framing focuses viewers on your face in a flattering way.
Lighting
- Avoid backlight from a window, shades your face.
- Soft, even lighting is ideal – no harsh shadows.
- Slight side lighting adds dimension.
- Reflectors can fill in shadows.
- Diffused natural light works great.
Proper lighting ensures you are clearly visible without glare or shadows.
Background
- Solid, subtle colors work best – medium grey, beige, light blue.
- Avoid busy patterns or distracting decor.
- Small amount of blur can soften background.
- Natural backgrounds like an office space are also fine.
The background should frame you without stealing focus. A professional headshot photographer can help with optimal setup.
Expression
- Warm, genuine smile is ideal for approachability.
- Can keep expression more neutral if preferred.
- Avoid strange expressions or overdone laughing.
- Maintain good eye contact with camera.
Your facial expression conveys personality and confidence. A comfortable natural smile tends to work best.
Posing
- Good posture – don’t slouch or lean.
- Direct shoulders towards camera.
- Chin slightly down can be more flattering.
- Hands can rest on lap or table, holding something relevant.
- Experiment with tilting head slightly.
Proper positioning makes you appear poised and professional.
Retouching
- Minor retouching like color correction and cropping is fine.
- Avoid overusing filters – should look natural.
- Watch for distorted proportions when slimming.
- Don’t overdo skin smoothing – some texture is normal.
Subtle retouching enhances the photo quality but don’t go overboard. The goal is a polished yet realistic result.
Types of LinkedIn profile photos
Now that we’ve covered some best practices, here are a few popular LinkedIn profile photo styles and options to consider:
Classic business headshot
- Full business attire against a plain backdrop.
- Conservative and corporate.
- Works for legal, finance, banking, etc.
- Can be more approachable with a warm smile.
The traditional standard for serious business types.
Business casual headshot
- Dressed nicely but not fully formal attire.
- Jackets, blouses, shirts without ties.
- Connotes professionalism but more down-to-earth.
- Suited to startups, tech, academia, etc.
A middle ground between formal and casual dress.
Creative environmental portrait
- Shot in office space or relevant setting.
- Conveys your work environment.
- Makes the photo more natural and conversational.
- Ensure setting aligns with your professional niche.
Places you in context while adding visual interest.
Candid portrait shot
- Posed to look natural, conversational.
- Nice balance of professionalism and authenticity.
- Can reference your interests through props, clothes.
- Warm, genuine facial expressions.
Makes you seem approachable and down-to-earth.
Creative conceptual portrait
- Artistically styled around your brand identity.
- Visuals, wardrobe and props are on theme.
- Works well for photographers, designers, etc.
- Not for conservative corporate cultures.
Great for expressing your unique personal brand.
How to take your own LinkedIn photo
Don’t have the budget to hire a professional photographer? You can still take a quality headshot yourself:
- Use a clean, simple background – wall, curtain, frosted glass.
- Shoot during day in bright, diffused natural light near a window.
- Use rear camera on smartphone vs lower quality selfie camera.
- Clean the camera lens to avoid smudges and blur.
- Use self-timer or remote shutter to avoid shaky shots.
- Take lots of photos and pick the best framing and expression.
- Ask a friend to take some as well – easier to get natural smiles.
- Use editing apps to adjust color, crop and do minor retouching.
DIY photos may not be glamour shots, but with some effort you can still end up with a clean, professional-looking result.
When to update your LinkedIn profile photo
Here are some common reasons to update your LinkedIn profile picture:
- You’ve significantly changed your appearance – new hair, facial hair, glasses, etc.
- It’s been a few years and your photo looks outdated.
- Your role or industry has changed.
- Your brand or goals have evolved.
- The quality is poor – blurry, bad lighting, low resolution.
- You have a new professional headshot you want to use.
As a general rule, plan to update your profile photo every 2-3 years at minimum to keep your look fresh. More frequently if you’ve had a significant change in appearance.
Tools to enhance your LinkedIn profile photo
Here are some handy tools to optimize your LinkedIn profile picture:
Photo editing apps
- Adobe Photoshop – Industrystandard for advanced photo retouching.
- Adobe Lightroom – Great for batch editing large photo shoots.
- Pixelmator – Full-featured editing app for Mac.
- GIMP – Free, open-source photo editing software.
- PicMonkey – Easy-to-use online editing suite.
These desktop and mobile apps allow professional-level retouching and optimization.
LinkedIn mobile app
- Easy photo capture and uploading from your smartphone.
- Cropping and filter features to enhance photos.
- Stores high-res versions of photos added.
- Can upload new version without losing connections.
The LinkedIn app is a handy way to manage your profile photo directly.
Headshot photographers
- Professional photographers skilled in optimizing profile headshots.
- High-end cameras, lighting and post-production.
- Saves you time and effort vs DIY photos.
- Cost ranges from $100 – $500+ depending on experience.
Hiring a pro is the best way to get magazine-quality profile pictures.
Common LinkedIn profile photo mistakes
To make sure you put your best face forward, avoid these common headshot mistakes:
- Blurry, pixelated, low-quality photos
- Shadows or glare obscuring your face
- Unprofessional facial expressions or poses
- Outdated hairstyles or fashion
- Appearing older than your actual age
- Distracting or cluttered backgrounds
- Extreme close-ups where you take up the entire frame
- Group shots that make it unclear who your profile is for
- Party photos with alcohol or revealing clothing
- Selfies distorted by holding your camera at an unflattering angle
It’s easy to make mistakes with DIY shots, so scrutinize your photo or ask for objective feedback before uploading.
Conclusion
Your LinkedIn profile photo is your most important visual asset for conveying your professional brand on a subconscious, emotional level. Investing time and effort into getting a high quality, polished headshot that fits your industry and goals pays off exponentially in terms of how recruiters and connections perceive you. Following standard portrait photography guidelines and tips for your pose, expression, lighting and composition will help your photo inspire confidence and approachability at first glance. Updating your photo regularly as your appearance and career evolve ensures you continue putting your best face forward. So don’t treat your profile picture as an afterthought – a professional image can communicate professionalism for your career.