Should you put your photo on your CV?
Now for a controversial point.
Should you put your photo on your CV?
There are some bodies that say no, never! It leads to discrimination based on appearance. And I agree, it may do.
But these days most people have a LinkedIn account, and you should have a URL to your LinkedIn profile at the top of your CV (for many jobs; other roles not so much so this will be industry and job sector driven).
If you have a LinkedIn profile and that profile has a picture of you, then you should include the same profile picture on your CV.
Why?
Well, these days with so many of us using social media all the time, we are used to seeing what people look like. We jump on Zooms for face-to-face calls when previously we had telephone calls.
And because are we are so used to seeing what people look like, we expect to see people. If you don’t have a picture on your CV the reader will be tempted to click the hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile to see you – and they’ll do that before they decide if you are a yes or a no.
If they are going to be discriminatory, they will be. All putting an image on your CV will do is shorten the timeline for them to reject you because of your appearance – if that is how they operate.
And if they do discriminate on looks, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to work there anyway, so you’d have dodged a bullet.
My experience of working with many different companies across hundreds of different roles and requirements, is that there are vanishingly small numbers of people that would reject a candidate based solely on appearance.
So include a professionally taken head shot suitable for LinkedIn and your CV that shows the professional you in an appropriate way. Typically this will be against a plain background and with you projecting positive energy.
By including your picture you keep them on your CV until they have made a decision to either progress or regret you. You don’t want to give them a reason to leave your CV before they have made a decision.
However your CV is your personal document and the final decision lies with you. At CV Workshop we will guide you as to what we believe the best format will be but the final decision rests with you.
But these days most people have a LinkedIn account, and you should have a URL to your LinkedIn profile at the top of your CV (for many jobs; other roles not so much so this will be industry and job sector driven).
If you have a LinkedIn profile and that profile has a picture of you, then you should include the same profile picture on your CV.
Why?
Well, these days with so many of us using social media all the time, we are used to seeing what people look like. We jump on Zooms for face-to-face calls when previously we had telephone calls.
And because are we are so used to seeing what people look like, we expect to see people. If you don’t have a picture on your CV the reader will be tempted to click the hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile to see you – and they’ll do that before they decide if you are a yes or a no.
If they are going to be discriminatory, they will be. All putting an image on your CV will do is shorten the timeline for them to reject you because of your appearance – if that is how they operate.
And if they do discriminate on looks, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to work there anyway, so you’d have dodged a bullet.
My experience of working with many different companies across hundreds of different roles and requirements, is that there are vanishingly small numbers of people that would reject a candidate based solely on appearance.
So include a professionally taken head shot suitable for LinkedIn and your CV that shows the professional you in an appropriate way. Typically this will be against a plain background and with you projecting positive energy.
By including your picture you keep them on your CV until they have made a decision to either progress or regret you. You don’t want to give them a reason to leave your CV before they have made a decision.
However your CV is your personal document and the final decision lies with you. At CV Workshop we will guide you as to what we believe the best format will be but the final decision rests with you.