Your Personal Brand Image: 6 Tips for Professional Online Picture

Think headshots are just for actors and models?  Wrong! Today, you need a professional online picture. In a competitive job market, any advantage over your competition is worth taking.  Whether you’re a recently graduated young professional looking for a job or an experienced corporate executive, the right online impression is a must.  And visuals – a professional online picture – plays a vital role in this. Just like casting directors, employers and clients are looking for a “type” of individual who looks like he or she is capable of completing the necessary job.  Your professional online picture should reflect that you are someone who gets things done in your field.

1. Call a professional. Remember, this is your chance to make a stunning first impression even before you meet an employer.  Putting effort into your professional online picture shows that you are a person to be taken seriously in a competitive market. Hire a professional like this corporate photographer in Calgary. Ask your friends if they know anyone who freelances. Often, a friend of a friend will take shots for free to add to their portfolio.

2. Dress appropriately. If you’re not trying to be on the next issue of Vogue or Rolling Stone, don’t take glamor shots.  Consider your business and what image you want to convey when you choose your attire.  An accessory with a splash of color will make you more memorable (a tie for men or a scarf for women).  Photographers’ lights may wash out your complexion, and too vibrant an outfit may detract from your face.  A good photographer will be able to help you with choosing the best outfit and make up for the shoot.  Wear minimal jewelry that compliments your features and coordinates with your clothes. The madison365 holder necklace is a great example.

3. Smile. Think about what kind of first impression you want to make on your most important client or for your most promising employer.  When you sit for the photograph, act just as though that person has entered the room.  You want to look confident but trustworthy.  People make instantaneous decisions about you as a person based on your facial expression the first time you meet.  Smile and you look approachable, dependable, and likeable – someone the other person wants to do business with.

4. Be genuine. Even if your mouth is smiling, your eyes will give away any other emotion you might be feeling.  People can tell when you’re “fake smiling” and it makes you look as though you have something to hide or just don’t care.  At the very least it does not leave one with the impression that you are the sympathetic, strong individual one wants to hire.

5. Market yourself. After your photos are taken, be sure to put them online in as many of your networking sites as possible.  LinkedIn and even Facebook can be excellent sources of business networking instead of a place to put party pictures.  Change that fraternity photo for one that shows that you are ready to be taken seriously as a business professional.

6. Be consistent. Once you have decided which photo is going to be your professional face online, stick with it.  Putting ten different photos up on different sites (if you can Google your name and find your pictures, prospective employers can too) is inconsistent branding – make it obvious who you are across all platforms.

Consistently using a quality, professional online picture online to increase your visibility to employers will give you an edge over your competition and show that you take yourself seriously.  Ideally, employers or clients will be able to read a quality biography of you to get to know your personality and see a photograph of you to make you stand out in their minds.  It is easy to forget a resume and the applicant who submitted it. Often, a human face with personality help employers will take notice.

Bethany Stringer is a graduate of Texas A&M University (class of ’08) and has her B.A. in English Literature with minors in History and Psychology.  She is currently working as a decorative artisan’s apprentice, and plans to teach English in Russia in 2010 as a CELTA certified teacher.  She owned her own business working horses when she was 17, and still loves riding her horse Romeo.  Always appreciating a challenge, she loves sea kayaking and prefers Rachmaninov to Bach.