The first impression is the last impression is what many believe in and also strive hard to achieve. What comes foremost to anybody’s mind in this era of social networking is an appropriate profile picture for that lasting influence on their visitors. Same is the case with LinkedIn, the most popular of all networking platforms rich in professionals from all spheres of work. It also required a professional and perfect LinkedIn profile picture to attract recruiters there.

An apt profile picture on your LinkedIn profile makes the profile more likely to be viewable which is why the profile picture is an essential element! More so because it will give your recruiter that first impression of you!

You must be thinking to hire a professional photographer by now and yes that is recommendable! But in case you don’t want to, we have 5 tips that would come handy in selecting the right LinkedIn profile picture for you!

5 Tips For Perfect LinkedIn Profile Picture

1. Don’t Use Polished Photographs

There are several apps available which can edit your pictures to make you look cool and chic. Though these are good ideas to be experimented on Facebook, avoid doing this on LinkedIn. Your display picture should actually look like you and give an idea of who you are like to meet face to face.  An up-to-date portrait with your daily looks captured should work.

2. Let Your Face Be Framed

You were on a skydiving mission and someone just clicked a shot of you in action. Though this is a very cool pic and shows how much adventurous you are, using it as a profile picture for your LinkedIn should be avoided. Recruiters and visitors want to see you clearly, so smile and light up the frame with your face.

3. Smiling Eyes

Your body has a language of its own, so does your face. A smiling face or even eyes can win battles as well as your reader’s minds. Appearing warm and friendly is the key to that perfect expression. Avoid grinning too hard and try and appear natural. Don’t appear scared or scary and look approachable enough for a generic conversation if at all a recruiter shows interest.

4. Wear Formals

You heard it right! Wearing formals for your professional display picture will keep you the safest. Match to what you are used to wearing in the office. Don’t be over-dressed or under-dressed. Also, don’t post a picture from your vacation in Goa. Solid formals or even Semi-Casuals should work for the picture.

5. Check The Background

Now that you have clicked a photograph of yourself softly smiling and wearing formals ensure that the background to the photograph isn’t too distracting. If there are too many other faces appearing in the background of your photo they have bombed your photograph already. Keep the background simple and let your face only appear as the main part of the picture.

Your profile picture can communicate with your visitors developing their like and trust on you. You can see an increase in your referral rate by just selecting the right profile picture. So, invest well to build up your brand on LinkedIn. Also, bear in mind the above points before selecting your profile picture.

Good Luck!