When your profile picture on Linkedin is your worst enemy... and you on the vine

• Looking at the other in a job interview without transmitting insecurity, fear or that you are lying

• How to put on makeup for a job interview

• How to hang up the phone (instead of dying of boredom to the receiver)

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you have ever gossiped on Meetic-type websites, there is something that has surely caught your attention: the profile photos that some choose to 'sell' themselves.

Personally, the ones that surprise me the most are those of those who pose with a woman next to them, in an affectionate attitude.

Perhaps, I think, they are her ex-partners?

Did they seriously not have another photo handy?

Is that all the effort you're willing to make, from the start, to be attractive to me, 'misfortune'?

Well, it says it all that you will invest a month after you start dating me, so goodbye, two-legged rat,

We don't even talk about those who pose drunk, with Viking horns or upload a photo of their First Communion.

If Meetic profile photos are an inexhaustible source of sociological surprise,

is not far behind.

Finding a partner may be important, but being in the job market, let alone finding one when you don't have one, shouldn't lag behind in relevance.

That's why it's so surprising to find in those

people on

or so far from the camera that

(oh, no, if they're wearing a mask and a hat, we couldn't even if we'd had a magnifying glass). 500 magnifications), or

or with his mother or

at a night party or covering his face with his hand or talking on the cell phone or in front of the Christmas tree or with

or funeral face or we don't know with what face because his

is turned or he hasn't directly uploaded a photo and he is the man / the invisible woman.

The Linkedin photo, vital to get a job

It is very likely that none of these people, with their great resumes behind them and their tremendous profile photos in front of them, have read the

that the social network has just published -based on surveys of more than 200 Human Resources professionals, businessmen and managers- , about the weight that the LinkedIn profile photo (your "21st century professional avatar" in the words of the professional photography experts at Snappr) has in their decisions when it comes to hiring someone.

We drop the most relevant here, to your amazement and awe if that:

Eight out of 10 respondents have agreed that a candidate

helps them get to

and believe it's an important ranking factor (gups, we're off to a bad start).

96% believe that this image can generate

in fact.

"The Linkedin photo allows you to get to know the person a little better, it reflects aspects of their image and personal care," says

director of Human Resources at the technology consultancy IN2.

Things get ugly when we read that

have

a candidate for their

at least once "despite being suitably qualified for the position."

And attention: almost four in 10 (38%) do it "regularly".

LinkedIn marketing strategist

sums it up with this simple equation: “What happens when someone uses the

to locate a suitable candidate?

As a result, LinkedIn offers a list that only includes three sections:

Based on these three pieces of information, your future client or recruiter will make the decision to click on your profile to learn more about you.”

Or not knowing anything anymore, of course.

But, it is a consolation, these will be left with a slightly dirty soul because, here comes the paradox, 78% of recruiters surveyed believe that candidates should be judged solely on their skills.

Come on, that 61% of recruiters are a mess, because they reject candidates for their appearance while at the same time they consider that they should be judged solely on their skills.

They are getting carried away, the study authors suspect, by something known in psychology as

What is the halo effect and why should you fear it?

Coined in 1920 by the American psychologist

the

is a

that leads us to extend certain characteristics to the entire subject.

The most classic:

It is more than studied, measured and accepted that when we value a person as attractive we also attribute

: character, knowledge, competence... Come on, we

Said in beast: we trust more in those who seem handsome to us than in those who seem ugly, even if we think we don't.

That is why the halo effect is so relevant in the Human Resources area.

The danger that recruiters run is to perceive in the interviewees a positive trait that leads them to overlook negative aspects, or vice versa.

Because

If someone feels rejected by your appearance, they can generalize that rejection to your skills, your character... That the handsome ones carry it better?

Yes, although there is nothing new here.

You only have to take a look at the survey carried out by the website jobatus.es among Human Resources professionals and where 86.1% admitted taking into account the physique of the person interviewed.

Well today that sinister screen begins in your LinkedIn photo.

And, as the study carried out by the social network points out, recruiters, due to the happy halo effect, could be favoring "those candidates who have an attractive appearance in their profile picture, in the belief that this correlates with a good performance".

This is what one of the managers surveyed called “the power of the first impression” and which leads to the following: if they had two candidates with similar skills in front of them, for 41% the Linkedin profile photo would be decisive;

13% are not sure if it would be or not.

On Linkedin the most important thing is to smile

And the good news for when?

Do not panic.

Or if.

Because it's not exactly about being handsome or ugly.

You can, in fact, be an eyesore and emanate attractiveness and other positive values ​​that work in your favor, such as

or

(of course, if you go out with your arms crossed, what you are going to convey is the opposite; it is the pose of someone who hides something, of the stingy and insecure).

In fact, for 67% of the recruiters interviewed, it is vital that you convey friendliness.

And that can almost only be achieved in one way: smiling.

"You're not smiling at all.

A smile can do wonders for people's perception of your photo, so give it a try!

Yours leaves a gap between the top and bottom row of teeth.

This is not good for perceptions about your competence and influence.

It raises the corners of the lips more.

Among many other things, this is how the analyzer developed by snappr.com tells me about my LinkedIn profile picture.

He also criticizes my 'squinch' (slightly closing your eyes makes you more attractive, according to the prevailing canon).

You can see that what happens to me (I think I smile in my profile picture but in reality I don't) happens to a lot of

, because according to data from LinkedIn, we remain in discreet

(even surpassed by Germany!)

in our profile photos.

The countries that smile the most are the United States, Australia and Israel.

The award for the siesos goes to Romania.

Perhaps they share with the Russians the idea that if you smile because it is that you are a lost fool.

And they do wrong, because according to Nuria Avilla, «the

transmits a

According to a study carried out by the University of Massachusetts, an argument made by a pleasant and likeable person is more easily accepted by the Human Resources recruiter even if he disagrees.

We could say that everyone smiles in the same language.

But, of course, everything is relative.

An undertaker or a model who smiles in their profile will always be suspicious...

Professional photos are on the rise on Linkedin

There are

why a profile picture can make you cringe when you're looking for a job.

The

has identified the following: 65% of respondents said that

is crucial, and

is the fourth most common mistake in profile photos.

What we needed.

Not only do we have to show our most attractive face and smile, but also appear authentic and full of personality.

And you will say: how do I do that?

Using a selfie dancing the rumba for the profile?

Noooooo.

Paradoxically, paying a professional to take your photo.

In fact, the

of the image was considered

“Overall, we found that respondents

filters, and photos taken in a less than neat manner,” explains

who led the Linkedin study.

That rules out vacation, pixelated, informal images or where the face is not well seen (people who pose from behind: leave it now).

In the heat of this new need, companies specialized, at least partially, in photos for LinkedIn have proliferated.

Like

in Madrid (60 euros),

in Barcelona (from 75 euros),

in Seville (30 euros)...

Having seen what has been seen (appear attractive, authentic, smile, that the photo is professional...), wouldn't it be more practical to search LinkedIn for successful professionals in our sector and imitate their (also, sure) successful photos?

«No, never», Inge Saez stops us, «the photo is too important to do that, it transmits a lot about us.

Yes, I would recommend that it be professional, after researching what we want to transmit ».

And lastly, avoid mortal sin.

As one of the managers interviewed for the study says: “I ignore any profile that doesn't have a photo.

If they haven't taken five minutes to put it on, I can't take them seriously."

Well, that, just like when you pose with your ex on Meetic!

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