Linkedin and Resumes
"You Don't Get A Second Chance At First Impressions"
Numbers Don't Lie
- TheLadders.com used eye-tracking software to study the behavior of 30 recruiters over a 10-week period. Their research shows that recruiters only spend an average of 6 seconds looking at a candidate’s résumé before deciding whether he or she is a fit for a job. 19% of that time is spent looking at photos.
- Reppler, an online presence monitoring service, found that 60% of recruiters have rejected a candidate because of what they learned about them online.
- CareerBuilder.com conducted a survey last year of 2,303 hiring managers. When asked why they use social networks to research candidates, 65% said they do it to see if the job seeker presents themselves professionally.
- Miram Salpeterus of U.S. News & World Report says that not even having a photo on your Linked in profile will make people assume you're either "really ugly" or "don't know how to upload a photo."
- “One of the biggest mistakes I see is no photo,” says LinkedIn Career Expert Nicole Williams in a Forbes.com interview. Williams goes on to say, “You’re seven times more likely to have your profile viewed if you have one. Like a house that’s on sale, the assumption is that if there’s no photo, something’s wrong.” She also makes a great point: If you leave a networking event with a handful of business cards, intending to follow up on LinkedIn, it’s much harder for you to remember who’s who without pictures. A missing photo can easily lead to missed connections.