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How Often Should You Update Your Profile Photos?

Unfortunately, some people will make assumptions about you based on a photo, and those impressions paint a picture of how we perceive someone. “The first thing people encounter is the delta” between how you represent yourself in a photo and how you look in person, Marion Dino, a retired human resources executive and career coach explains. “You want to convey that you are trustworthy. Most people aren’t intentionally judging, but we all have unconscious biases, and you leave yourself open to the interpretation of being less than honest if you don’t represent yourself accurately.” Most of the time, a résumé doesn’t include a profile photo, but “recruiters do look at LinkedIn and other social media platforms,” Dino says. “You don’t want to leave the impression that you aren’t authentic.”

September 5, 2022

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How Often Should You Update Your Profile Photos?

Photos give us a general idea of how someone appears, but there are many characteristics that a two-dimensional picture cannot provide. “This is especially true with regard to height and stature, which is impossible to tell through a photo,” Loo says. “From a clinician’s standpoint, there were therapy patients who I had yet to meet in person because we started meeting in 2020 via teletherapy. Until this year I’d only seen them from the shoulders up! I met patients who were far taller or shorter than I imagined, and discovering those details did require me to amend my overall picture of who they were. It also gave me insight into how they are perceived by others (e.g., a petite woman showing up for an interview will elicit different impressions than one who is very tall). As a cognitive-behavioral psychologist, one of the areas of growth I’m always encouraging is cognitive flexibility, or the ability to shift your perspective or how you think. I think the level and speed at which you ‘recover’ when modifying initial impressions can depend on how cognitively flexible you are.”

September 5, 2022

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How Often Should You Update Your Profile Photos?

Peggy Loo, a psychologist at Manhattan Therapy Collective, says, “There’s always a moment of recalibration when we’ve first seen someone’s picture and then we meet them in real life. It may be less of an ‘if’ it happens and more of ‘how much’ internal adjustment happens. For example, meeting someone on a first date who is more attractive in person than their profile is a pleasant surprise. Whereas meeting a physician who appears far younger than they do in their photo may give you pause about the amount of experience they have.”

September 5, 2022

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