Best LinkedIn Profiles: Pictures Tips [Updated]

Like it or not, we ALL judge books by their covers! This might not be a popular thought, but it is a fact of life and the pictures we chose on our profile can determine how we will be perceived by other LinkedIn members.

So What does YOUR LinkedIn profile picture say about you?

I have written many articles about LinkedIn, and they often generate the most, views, shares and comments, I also believe they may be the most beneficial articles that I can publish on Pulse as each one of us is striving to further our careers here on LinkedIn!

Many send me connection requests and start following me right after I publish insights on LinkedIn, this, in turn, allows me to notice patterns displayed by members in my network, which in turn helps me refine my articles and pointers.

Now, if you browse through the "LinkedIn Tips" Channel on Pulse, and look for advice to make the most out of LinkedIn and which pitfalls to avoid, you will see that there are a good number of articles that mention getting a professional picture on your LinkedIn Profile.

Actually, the majority of LinkedIn experts wrote an article on that topic, interestingly enough, having a professional picture in your LinkedIn profile is far from enough. To demonstrate this, I decided to use my mug as a guinea pig.

I picked 7 of my pictures, 6 of them would fall into the "pro" category and 1 is just a snapshot of me.

The idea is to illustrate how I am perceived by the onlookers based on my profile picture, and certainly you can see how your own picture might promote or damage your professional efforts here on LinkedIn.

You will notice that my pictures, depending on the angles, colors, cropping, stern look or smiling etc impact slightly or dramatically the results.

To evaluate my pictures I created an account with Photofeeler.com -I am not associated in any way with Photofeeler, even though I reached out to them ;)-

 Now, why would you want to make sure you use the best picture?

Simply put, your picture will lead how successful your networking experience will be. 

That FIRST IMPRESSION is PRICELESS, rather it does have a price, if you come across as incompetent and not likable, the odds of getting hired are slim. 

Would you spend your precious time to review thoroughly someone's profile, reach out to them and consider hiring if you felt this person was incompetent and not likable? OBVIOUSLY NOT! Well, the same rule applies to you, how can you expect anyone to review your profile and connect with you if at first glance they felt you were not a fit for the job or a pain in the neck?

So when you hear or read: "Get a professional photo into your LinkedIn profile", you will admit that this really doesn't mean anything unless you get the RIGHT professional photo.

After combing through the web, the only website I found that provides a pretty accurate, and most importantly, unbiased feedback on pictures is photofeeler.com

Here are my results and I will let you be the judge of the accuracy of the stats.

This picture, scored the lowest, is a snapshot taken by my wife while on vacation in Atlanta.

Is your picture a snapshot? Most likely turns out great in a photo album and on memory lane, but definitely not as a LinkedIn Profile Picture. 

This picture was taken while shooting videos for our online reputation services while in San Diego, this picture scored the highest and is now my "official" profile picture on most social platforms.

This picture was taken the same day as the one above, same video shooting for our online reputation services in San Diego. 

Notice how this picture scores really nicely on "competent" and "influential" but REALLY low on the "likeability" scale. 

Same day, same "pro" photo, yet the perception is dramatically different on a key factor! 

This picture was my LinkedIn Profile picture for almost two years and was retired after running the tests on Photofeeler. Interestingly enough, as soon as I replaced this picture with the new one, we signed up our biggest contract to date. Coincidence, great timing, or proof by result, either way, testing is always the best way to figure out what works.

This LinkedIn profile picture was used, on and off, as it is part of the covers to some training I have, eventually, after the score of 64% on competency I decided to not use that picture on my LinkedIn Profile. 

20% difference between the best score and this one is huge, 20 more people out of 100 would label me as not so competent based on that picture! SCARY!

What is your picture saying about you??

This one was a random test, still has a "pro" feel to it, but the scores are definitely not where I need them to be and quite frankly surprised how low they were. I assumed that the beard, the smile, the black and white and straight facing picture would have scored better.

Once again that picture and these ratings illustrate so well the concept that a professional photo is absolutely not enough, and that you own perception is biased, skewed and unreliable!

This one scored really well, but i received a number of notes from those voting, and ALL mentioned the same thing, the cropping of half my forehead was not a good choice, so even though it scored high, people did not like the cropping.

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PICK FOR ME?

Certainly, you can see the importance of having a professional picture posted on your LinkedIn profile but more importantly the best picture that will leave THE BEST FIRST IMPRESSION.

Regardless of your skills, experience, and abilities, if your picture "turns off" the majority of your audience and potential prospects, your efforts, here on LinkedIn will feel more tedious and less fruitful.

Once you update your picture, don't hesitate to ping me and I will be delighted to give you my feedback :)

Thank you for reading

Jerome Knyszewski

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