5 ms·

I never understand why people include a photo of themselves on their CV.

by JazCE 12y ago

jadc 12y ago
In Europe, it is generally the norm to include a photo of yourself on the CV... Never seen that in the US. However given this site is called "VisualCV" (emphasis on visual), I can see why people posting on there would want to include photos, in addition to the nice graphics and stuff.
- edent 12y ago
  As ever, the UK is different. I've never seen a CV with a photo attached. I'd imagine it would fall foul of a lot of anti discrimination laws (age, race, gender, disability, etc).
kifler 12y ago
Depends on the culture. Some will even put their marital status on there - someone who is single has much more time to dedicate to a company compared to someone with a partner and kids at home.
- yaur 12y ago
  In the US anyway its illegal to discriminate based on marital status and its a red flag when a candidate starts the conversation by volunteering that they are part of a protected class.
loumf 12y ago
I've heard this is common outside of the US. I have never seen one in real life and it's probably illegal to require it -- even having them is a problem I wouldn't want to deal with.
oAlbe 12y ago
There are countries where it's reccomended (or even needed) to put a photo on their CV. Here in Italy for example is a common practice. Same goes for age. In UK you don't need to put your age on the CV since law says you can't be discrimined by how old (or young) you are. But again, here in Italy is a very common practice.
jonnathanson 12y ago
It probably helps to create a positive impression, assuming you're photogenic; photos are kind of biased against the unphotogenic. LinkedIn, for instance, is always haranguing new users to put a photo in their profiles. Presumably, this is because profiles with photos are clicked on a lot more often -- especially if the photos look good. It's just one of those human-nature hacks. Photos are also problematic, in so far as they allow the person screening the resumes to make hiring decisions -- even subconscious decisions -- on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, apparent age, or even just physical appearance. I imagine that requiring photos of all candidates would be illegal, or at least highly actionable, in the US. That being said, I don't think there are any rules against putting a photo in one's resume here. I'd just do it with extreme caution. I only see significant upside if you are a great looking person, or have a photo that just screams "Now THAT is a kick-ass professional!" Otherwise, there is just too much risk involved. Risk that you'll be weeded out for "fit" (read: "This person doesn't look like the kind of person who works here"), or for having a weird photo, or even for being the kind of person weird enough to include a photo (since again, photos are not the norm in the US). I will say this much: as unorthodox as these visual resumes are, I kind of like them. They stand out, and they present the vital information in a much more digestible format than ye olde paper resume does. I just think the photo aspect is tricky. I'd also wonder whether real-life HR managers, recruiters, and hiring managers would grok this style, or whether they'd find it too eccentric. Recruiters are usually working within a mold, not trying to break one.
- acheron 12y ago
  My experience has been that any place big enough to be dealing with recruiters, a couple layers of HR, and so on, is also going to have an online application system where you'll be lucky to have something more than "paste your resume into this text box". Certainly no way to send a photo even if you wanted to. I know when I worked at big companies, by the time I saw a resume it had always been through at least one system, and often two or three; and any formatting that the applicant had done was long stripped out, leaving bizarre line breaks and other problems all over the place.
rwmurrayVT 12y ago
I wrote a comment about it on Reddit. Apparently in Germany if you don't include a photo of yourself they assume you have something to hide. It seems absurd to me personally.
- detaro 12y ago
  It is, but unless they make a law against it these things change very slowly ("Everyone has always send in CVs with their picture, why should we change that/why are you doing it differently than normal"). International companies or software startups probably move quicker in these things than banks or production companies.
mattdlondon 12y ago
Agreed - what struck me with that site is that all the CVs had photos of the applicants. For anyone applying to where I work please please please do not include a photo because I instantly know your age & ethnicity - things that I am not supposed to know about you. Obviously I am going to see your face eventually (assuming you get to an on-site interview), but seeing it all before I get to talk to you in person can lead unconscious bias which is not good for anyone.
- foolinaround 12y ago
  unfortunately, ethnicity can often be deduced from the name..
- bnegreve 12y ago
  > unconscious bias which is not good for anyone. A bias has to be in favour of some people. Those people are usually the ones who include their photos.

I never understand why people include a photo of themselves on their CV.

by JazCE 12y ago

I never understand why people include a photo of themselves on their CV.

jadc 12y ago

In Europe, it is generally the norm to include a photo of yourself on the CV... Never seen that in the US. However given this site is called "VisualCV" (emphasis on visual), I can see why people posting on there would want to include photos, in addition to the nice graphics and stuff.

edent 12y ago
As ever, the UK is different. I've never seen a CV with a photo attached. I'd imagine it would fall foul of a lot of anti discrimination laws (age, race, gender, disability, etc).

kifler 12y ago

Depends on the culture. Some will even put their marital status on there - someone who is single has much more time to dedicate to a company compared to someone with a partner and kids at home.

yaur 12y ago
In the US anyway its illegal to discriminate based on marital status and its a red flag when a candidate starts the conversation by volunteering that they are part of a protected class.

loumf 12y ago

I've heard this is common outside of the US. I have never seen one in real life and it's probably illegal to require it -- even having them is a problem I wouldn't want to deal with.

oAlbe 12y ago

There are countries where it's reccomended (or even needed) to put a photo on their CV. Here in Italy for example is a common practice. Same goes for age. In UK you don't need to put your age on the CV since law says you can't be discrimined by how old (or young) you are. But again, here in Italy is a very common practice.

jonnathanson 12y ago

It probably helps to create a positive impression, assuming you're photogenic; photos are kind of biased against the unphotogenic. LinkedIn, for instance, is always haranguing new users to put a photo in their profiles. Presumably, this is because profiles with photos are clicked on a lot more often -- especially if the photos look good. It's just one of those human-nature hacks. Photos are also problematic, in so far as they allow the person screening the resumes to make hiring decisions -- even subconscious decisions -- on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, apparent age, or even just physical appearance. I imagine that requiring photos of all candidates would be illegal, or at least highly actionable, in the US. That being said, I don't think there are any rules against putting a photo in one's resume here. I'd just do it with extreme caution. I only see significant upside if you are a great looking person, or have a photo that just screams "Now THAT is a kick-ass professional!" Otherwise, there is just too much risk involved. Risk that you'll be weeded out for "fit" (read: "This person doesn't look like the kind of person who works here"), or for having a weird photo, or even for being the kind of person weird enough to include a photo (since again, photos are not the norm in the US). I will say this much: as unorthodox as these visual resumes are, I kind of like them. They stand out, and they present the vital information in a much more digestible format than ye olde paper resume does. I just think the photo aspect is tricky. I'd also wonder whether real-life HR managers, recruiters, and hiring managers would grok this style, or whether they'd find it too eccentric. Recruiters are usually working within a mold, not trying to break one.

acheron 12y ago
My experience has been that any place big enough to be dealing with recruiters, a couple layers of HR, and so on, is also going to have an online application system where you'll be lucky to have something more than "paste your resume into this text box". Certainly no way to send a photo even if you wanted to. I know when I worked at big companies, by the time I saw a resume it had always been through at least one system, and often two or three; and any formatting that the applicant had done was long stripped out, leaving bizarre line breaks and other problems all over the place.

rwmurrayVT 12y ago

I wrote a comment about it on Reddit. Apparently in Germany if you don't include a photo of yourself they assume you have something to hide. It seems absurd to me personally.

detaro 12y ago
It is, but unless they make a law against it these things change very slowly ("Everyone has always send in CVs with their picture, why should we change that/why are you doing it differently than normal"). International companies or software startups probably move quicker in these things than banks or production companies.

mattdlondon 12y ago

Agreed - what struck me with that site is that all the CVs had photos of the applicants. For anyone applying to where I work please please please do not include a photo because I instantly know your age & ethnicity - things that I am not supposed to know about you. Obviously I am going to see your face eventually (assuming you get to an on-site interview), but seeing it all before I get to talk to you in person can lead unconscious bias which is not good for anyone.

foolinaround 12y ago
unfortunately, ethnicity can often be deduced from the name..
bnegreve 12y ago
> unconscious bias which is not good for anyone. A bias has to be in favour of some people. Those people are usually the ones who include their photos.