Sure, you may have invested a lot of time capturing job descriptions, collecting solid recommendations, and identified tangible (and impressive) professional achievements. Those things are all critical and definitely showcase your professional track record. However, your profile photo also contributes to the first impression you make on a potential employer, recruiter, investor, or partner.
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This is one of the articles that when you read it you sort of go well yeah isn’t that just common sense, but I think these mistakes are easier to fall into particularly in technical theatre more than you might first imagine. I think there suggestion of a professional headshot isn’t something everyone in this industry can afford to have as an expense so they may lean more toward personal photo’s to begin with. Naturally since it is a job portfolio you might tend to lean toward picture of you when you’re at work which would be a logical conclusion to come to. The issue here is that lighting becomes a huge issue because we are hardly ever working in ideal lighting conditions for a photo. And something like sitting at a tech table with the monitor light might be a very cool picture that you want to use but it might have some of these unintended consequences.
The tips in this article may appear to be obvious, but attention to detail can always make a difference. Especially on a large platform like LinkedIn, one must put in the effort to differentiate themselves from the thousands of others attempting to get hired. Having a clear, professional photograph is essentially the first impression others have of you on the internet. This article speaks to the greater theme of proper presentation of oneself in any work or interview setting. If you take care in paying attention to the details, employers will respect you, and be more open in listening to your ideas and/or even clicking on your profile. Expression and attitude is just as important. Because a photo can only convey so much, having an open, positive facial expression can be more helpful than one that appears to be more serious and unapproachable. This is true in life as well: one should always present the best version when creating relationships and establishing first impressions.
We very recently had a discussion about online representation and LinkdIn in particular in our Professional Prep class. In this increasingly digital world, monitoring and sculpting your online presence is becoming more important than ever. More and more hiring is being done digitally, even in the world of theatre. Linkd In may not be the main hub for theatrical hiring, but it’s universally accepted as a reputable source to find accurate information on candidates, as well as serve as a networking tool. Even something as simple as your headshot is important in marketing yourself. We talked about how the setting you choose, or even your posing, or use of a headshot at all, can say something about your work. People connect better when they can see your face, but there’s something to be said for letting your work speak for itself. Either way, if you choose to go down the route of using a headshot, following the tips outlined here sounds like a great start in general polish and professionalism.
The online world has become such a huge influence on the professional world. It is very important to make sure that one is represented well and properly. It is fascinating to see an article focused on how important it is to have a good profile picture on LinkedIn. Little mistakes are not considered little when one is looking for a job or potential employers are looking for candidates online. Having online presence in today's day and age is equivalent to creating a brand for yourself and everyone wants their brand to do succeed. Businesses and individuals have gone on to succeed due to the way they have presented themselves online. I found it even more interesting how body language and facial expressions in pictures give away more information than one would expect. One may have the most impressive resume and all could be destroyed just by the profile photo. I know the saying goes don't judge a book by its cover but first impressions matter and your online presence is your first impression.
All these tips seem obvious, as Lauren said, but I understand why a lot of people don’t follow them. When someone is setting up their LinkedIn, they probably just grab whatever the best photo of them they can quickly find is, or take a selfie in order to have one. That could lead to sub-part lighting, cropping a group photo, or lower quality photos in a pretty clear cut way. Not everyone is going to have them time to get professional headshots, or even track down friend with a nice camera. I know I have a very nice professional photo of me but haven’t gotten around to updating my LinkedIn yet. I probably will once I start actively job hunting, but I probably should’ve done that already just for good measure. I think the biggest thing in my mind is to make sure to at least have a photo of you though, profiles with no profile picture just give a vibe of not being a real person.
Honestly I have not yet met this kind of problem personally, but I can totally see the points this article trying to make. It is like to choose a Facebook profile picture. You have to make the picture clear and somehow meaningful to make a good presentation of yourself. I would like to go on and apply these points on the presentation of a portfolio. First, make the photo you take a high resolution one. For that everyone wants to see your work in detail, you can not stop people from zooming in your pictures. Second, make sure that photo is all about the thing you want to focus on. Imaging how people would see the picture, and from that review how clearly the picture layout is. Finally, avoiding any effects that might cause unpleasant experience, so that people will continue on your presentation.
It scares me very frequently that the profile photo may leave a stronger impression than everything else I put on the LinkedIn page. I have control over the job descriptions, recommendations, professional achievements and what not on the page, but I do not have much control over what I look like. Getting a professional photo with professional background, nice makeup, and beautiful lighting could certainly help to make myself look the best, but in the end, I look like what I look like. In Korea, it is customary to include your headshot on any kind of resume, and people go way too far to look better in the photos that sometimes the headshot photo does not reflect the reality anymore. People still do it because they know that even though the photo may not be the strongest positive influencing factor on the resume, but it can certainly leave a negative influence if your appearance is below average. I know that lookism here is not as rampant as in Korea, but I am still wary of the profile photo.
This article honestly seemed kind of silly to me. All of the advice in this article seems pretty self-explanatory, but it might seem more common to theatre folk than to other people. Many other professions do not typically think about getting professional headshots done. Theatre folk on the other hand, often get their first professional headshots done at a very young age. For those that are not as familiar with headshots, I think this article could be helpful. However, even then it feels like the rules page for your photo submission for the SAT. It's pretty standard to submit a photo that is not a selfie, that has good lighting and quality, and that is not just a cropped group photo for professional settings. I hope that people who were not aware of these common facts are now a bit more educated about how to act professionally to make a good first impression.
I do think that these tips sound like common sense for the most, but it's something that's important to think about when setting up your profile. I think for a lot of people their photo is the last thing they think about when creating a LinkedIn. I know that for my CMU ID senior year of high school I just used a selfie I took on the day it was due and that bad picture, which was warped because it was the wrong size, is still on mt ID to this day. Honestly I am extremely grateful that as seniors and third year grads we all get our headshots taken by Louis, as they really do make great LinkedIn profile shots. They meet all of these requirements as they have good lighting, they are high quality, and they're definitely not selfies. Even though I was dreading headshot day at the time (I really hate getting my picture taken) it was a very valuable resource to be able to have.
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