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Advice / Job Search / Finding a Job

How to Choose a Profile Picture That Won't Scare Hiring Managers Away

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Because we spend hours perfecting our cover letters, cutting our resumes down to fit on one page (without resorting to using an eight-point font), and prepping for the most common interview questions, it’s easy to believe that these are the three most important components to recruiters. And, while recruiters do spend quite a lot of time evaluating these items, more than 90% of them are now making their first impressions of applicants through social media accounts.

What does this mean for us? Besides making ourselves desirable candidates through cover letters, resumes, and interviews, we should pay just as much attention to how we’re visually presented on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

According to AvidCareerist, recruiters spend around six seconds per LinkedIn profile—and 19% of that time looking at the profile picture. The last thing we want is to be passed on because we don’t look the part. So take a look at this infographic to find out what your current profile photo is telling employers, then learn how to make it a winning one.


Infographic courtesy of AvidCareerist.