In today’s digital age, a lot of people have been using social media to help them build a strong online presence, develop their personal brand or use it for professional networking. Although social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you achieve these goals, nothing compares to LinkedIn in that regard.
When it comes to your LinkedIn profile, there are 2 areas that matter most: your headline and your profile photo. In fact, your profile photo is your first point of contact with other professionals on the site.
With that in mind, we’d like to share with you a list of pictures you should never use on your LinkedIn profile.
Party pic
Using a picture of yourself while in a social event may seem like a good idea. You look friendly, relaxed and approachable. However, using photos that are out of your work context may send the wrong message to your network. We understand the work hard, play hard mentality, but this type of photos aren’t appropriate for a professional site like LinkedIn.
Group picture
Your LinkedIn profile represents you and your expertise. It baffles me why some people would use a group photo as their profile picture. Having more than one person in your profile photo may send a confusing message to the viewers. And how are we supposed to know which one is you?
No photo
Some people choose not to upload a photo and leave it blank instead. But if you do, you’ll be missing out on a lot of opportunity. LinkedIn profiles with profile pictures are 11% times more likely to be viewed than those that don’t have one.
Selfie
There’s nothing wrong with using a selfie as your profile picture; people just don’t know how to take them. If you are to upload a selfie, make sure, that it’s not a photo of you with your arms stretched, trying to snap a photo. Remember, your profile photo gives users an idea who they are going to deal with. The shot still needs to look professional. Save your smug, snapped-in-the-bathroom selfie for Facebook or Tinder.
