Why Your Headshot Matters When Looking for a New Role

It's no secret in the business world that January can be promising for job searchers looking to land a new role. New hire budgets are being approved. Employees are submitting resignations after the holidays. And companies are eager to quickly fill open positions. This trifecta means that opportunities are abundant this time of year.

It also means there are many job seekers searching for their next role.

If you're among these seekers, how are you making sure you're putting your best foot forward? Are you putting in the effort to ensure your resume is top-notch? Are you a little more active on LinkedIn? Are you taking time on applications and including relevant details for each application you submit?

What about your headshot? How's that looking, and why does that even matter?

Let me tell you why by asking you a simple question. Let's say you are applying for jobs on LinkedIn Jobs. A potential employer or recruiter now has a notification to view your profile, and they click on it. What is the first thing they see?

That's right. Your profile picture.

What is that picture saying about you? Does it scream professionalism? Does it say that you've taken the time to put your best foot forward? Does it say that you're a pleasant person? Approachable? Happy? Uncomfortable? Annoyed?

Your profile picture - headshot - is the first impression your next potential employer has about you. And as much as it sucks, you may be digging yourself a hire ability grave just by choosing the wrong picture.

One of the easiest ways to make your application stand out, especially an application through a site that allows you to have a photo included, is by having a bomb-ass headshot.

Meet Josh

If you've read through a few posts on here, I've probably mentioned Josh. He's my husband, and he is currently searching for his next career opportunity. He's been looking for about 6 weeks, but we just got around to finally taking some updated headshots for him. You'd think with a photographer as a wife this would have been one of the first things we did.... It should have been! But at least we got to it now.

Josh has had a pretty wide variety of opportunities in his career. He's searching for new opportunities in operations, as an HR Business Partner, or a Chief of Staff type of role. What we wanted to showcase about him in his headshots is his professionalism, his approachability, and his infectious presence. Because Josh is looking for opportunities at companies that tend to be a little more laid back than a shirt-and-tie kind of place, we chose to go with a lifestyle photography style.

In about ten minutes in our own home, we were able to shoot these images. (Yes. We really can make just about any location work for headshots!) I think we nailed exactly what our approach was. And yes, our six-year-old daughter absolutely tried to steal the show. But she didn't succeed this time! I can't wait to see how his effort into landing his new role turns out.