This will be your complete guide to taking the optimal LinkedIn Headshot. Your headshot is the first thing a recruiter or hiring manager will see. You’ll want to make sure you leave a good first impression visually on your LinkedIn profile.
Leave a good impression to recruiters and hiring managers by leveraging these LinkedIn Headshot tips and frameworks! You will be missing out on job opportunities and promotions if you don’t implement our LinkedIn Optimization frameworks.
How to take a professional headshot for LinkedIn
There are two ways you can go about taking a LinkedIn headshot:
- The do it yourself way
- Hiring a professional
If you have the money, we highly recommend hiring a professional. This will be an investment into your own brand and career, and as a result, you will want to ensure that what comes out is high quality. It’s clear to see who takes photos themselves vs. hiring a professional and the differences are absolutely insane.
The do it yourself way
If you have a decent quality iPhone or camera, you can either set it on a stand or have a friend take one for you. Make sure you are dressed well and ensure optimal lighting conditions. Identify what backgrounds work for you in a professional setting around you and drive out and go take some photos. Edit and touch up the photos as needed on apps such as Lightroom.
And please, don’t take a selfie.
Hire a professional
This is the way to go. Just invest the few hundred bucks or so for a decent quality headshot – it’s completely worth it. You are literally investing in your own success. You do not want to skimp out or take shortcuts regarding career or business. Do it right and hire a professional.
Use google or yelp to find good quality professional headshot photographers and take it from there. Look at reviews and look at their portfolios and see what works with you.
This route will be much more return on investment positive than doing it yourself. You may notice that you’ll have more opportunities by recruiters and hiring managers simply because you have a professional headshot (and not a selfie).
What to wear for for LinkedIn Headshot
You’ll need to make sure you’re wearing the proper attire for your LinkedIn headshot. The proper attire for your LinkedIn headshot will be based on the type of position you’re in and also the industry that you’re in.
You’ll notice different types of photos for those in industries such as:
- Tech
- Accounting
- Engineering
- Healthcare
- Technician
- Nurses
- Doctors
- College Grads
The industries above are all pretty different in terms of culture and you’ll want to reflect that into your LinkedIn headshot.
Tech
Tech will be comprised of roles such as software engineering, UX, UI, data analytics, data science, or anything related. The dress code for tech industries is generally more lax than traditional ones. This means that you can get away with being more casual.
Feel free to wear T-shirts, fleece sweaters (think Patagonia), or business casual. Match the culture of whatever it is the company you’re trying to get into. If you see in the company about section that they wear T-shirts, feel free to wear a T-shirt. If they step it up and make it business casual, make it business casual.
Like with anything, there will be alot of nuance to this. Think tech companies such as Google vs. IBM.
A full blown professional outfit such as a suit or dress won’t be needed for a tech professional headshot.
Traditional Industries
Traditional industries will consist of those such as Accounting, Engineering, Healthcare, etc.
Accounting
Accounting is a very traditional and old-fashioned industry. Although there is a high population of a younger demographic (Gen Z) entering the accounting workforce (think accounting or consulting jobs, McKinsey, etc.), the company is still built more on a traditional mindset.
As a result – dress professionally.
Suit, blazer, dress, as needed for accounting LinkedIn headshots.
Engineering
Engineering is also a traditional and old-fashioned industry (excluding software engineering). However – culture will vary if you are trying to get into “newer” companies that implement newer tech such as EV. Companies such as Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla will exhibit different culture than those such as Ford, GM, or Toyota.
You should generally make your LinkedIn headshot for engineering industries professional.
Suit, blazer, dress, as needed for engineering LinkedIn headshots.
Healthcare
Healthcare workers will consist of those such as nurses or doctors. The specialty between healthcare may differ – pediatric, cardiology, ortho, etc. but overall, the frameworks will stay the same for healthcare workers regarding LinkedIn headshots.
Nurses
A professional photo of you wearing scrubs will work fine for nurses.
Doctors
A professional photo of you in professional attire + white coat will be the way to go for doctors.
Technicians
Because technicians are associated with more so “blue collar” work and will not be doing work in an office setting, a professional photo is not as needed. A photo of you in what you would wear in a shop floor type of environment will be fine.
College Grads
Many college grads utilize the stole + business casual or professional attire. This is okay, but after getting your entry level job, you should change this quickly. This gives an “elementary” feeling. Prior to entry level jobs will be okay, but once you get your entry level job, you should quickly change your photo. You may get looked down upon as being a “new grad” as a result of the lack of experience you will have when starting off your career.
Graduation pics will be fine, but as we have discussed above, change them quickly when you get your first entry level job.
A picture like the above and cropped into a headshot will be fine. But do you now get what I’m saying when I say that these “new grad” type of pictures look elementary?
AI LinkedIn Headshot
Use the guidelines as described above for your AI LinkedIn Headshot, if you’re going this route. A real picture of you is much more recommended for authenticity, but if that’s not the case, then AI is fine.
AI is getting absolutely crazy and has the capabilities to generate high quality pictures. Recruiters and hiring managers will be able to pick up on an AI profile picture, and will be skeptical.
Use AI photos at your own risk.
Check out the TikTok trend regarding LinkedIn Headshots generated with AI by Remini!
LinkedIn Headshot Profile Dimensions
The LinkedIn Headshot dimensions for your profile picture will come down to 400 px x 400 px. You won’t need an extremely high quality picture to make it nice, but the nicer the photo the better. The 2 photos in the engineering section were both taken in a professional setting.
See: LinkedIn Profile Banner Dimensions – Complete Guide
Closing Thoughts on your LinkedIn Headshot
Your LinkedIn Headshot is how you will make your first impression upon recruiters and hiring mangers. When you look at it like this, you’ll want to make sure that you have a nice photo for your LinkedIn page. Make sure you invest the few hundred bucks or so for a nice picture, it’ll pay back dividends when get those juicy six-figure $100K+ salaries!
Book a career consulting session with us when you realize that it’s time to take the next step in your career.
LinkedIn Headshot FAQ
Although you can if you’re on a budget, selfie headshots are extremely low quality and unprofessional. We don’t recommend it.
Yes, we advise that you invest the few hundred bucks or so to pay for a premium / high quality professional LinkedIn Headshot. Your LinkedIn headshot is the first thing recruiters and hiring mangers will see. As a result, you’ll want to leave a lasting impression. The few hundred bucks or so will be a drop in the bucket anyways compared to your salary / pay raises in your career.
Expect to pay between $100-500 for a decent quality LinkedIn Headshot. You may find some budget ones, but we’d recommend spending at least a few hundred bucks on a quality photographer. Check what comes up on searches through google and yelp and see which ones you like.
The LinkedIn Headshot Profile Picture on your page will be 400 x 400 px. Adjust your image accordingly.
Refer to the guidelines that we’ve set above based on some of the different industries that are out there. If you’re feeling stuck, dress more professional vs. casual. See some of the examples that are laid out above.
About the author
Kazuyoshi Fujimoto, PE
Founder | Engineering Career Coach | Principal Mechanical Engineer
Kazu oversees all of ultmeche’s engineering services. He provides consulting such as resume reviews, rewrites, mock interviews, and all services career related. Additionally, Kazu performs consulting work regarding Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense. Kazu is licensed as a professional engineer in the state of California and has 9+ years of experience in Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense.
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