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J.M. Mayer
Dr. Martha Henning
Writing 122
7 May 2016
What Are You Looking At, LinkedIn?
Looking for a job is not a new endeavor for me. The last time I interviewed with an employer
was 6 years ago, about 3 years before that for my previous job, and a few other times since I was a
teenager. The process is the same in many ways as it was when I first started working in high school. A
successful candidate needs a resume and cover letter—multitudes of sources contradict each other
regarding how best to compose them; the applicant dresses nice, shows up on time, uses a firm
handshake, and looks them in the eye at the interview. (And the real go-getter doesn't forget to send a
thank you note and then follow up!) But changes along the way now require an increasing role of
information technology and most recently social networking. Career advisors would have me believe
that if I don't have a presence on the professional networking site LinkedIn, that employers can't even
prove that I really exist, much less that I'm worthy of hiring.
It makes me feel old to resist this trend of publishing personal details about myself so anyone in
the world can learn the nuances of my life—everyone (okay, not literally everyone, but nearly every
one of my peers) is doing it. Some might prefer a higher degree of privacy, but such sharing is not
inherently evil, and perhaps it even benefits me more than I realize. So I succumbed to the inevitable,
set up my LinkedIn profile, and started sending out invitations to connect with acquaintances. I entered
much of the standard resume data: employment history, education completed, skills, goals, etc. Every
time I visited the LinkedIn website, it reminded me that I should add a profile picture: “Members with
profile photos receive 14 times more profile views than those without” (“LinkedIn Help”). I started to
browse recent photos, looking for a professional image of myself, but didn't find anything suitable. I

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considered taking a photo at that instant from my web cam. “But wait, maybe I should have a haircut
first,” I mused. “Maybe I should put on a button-down shirt and tie.” (Head shot only, pants irrelevant.)
As I considered how I wanted my likeness displayed to prospective employers, I came to think
of this non-required (but strongly encouraged) element of my profile as contrary to my values. The
profile pics of my acquaintances evoked my memories of those individuals—their voices, demeanors,
all the experiences we had shared. But the profile pics of people with whom I was unacquainted (shown
to me by LinkedIn because we shared a common connection) elicited baseless judgments. I couldn't see
a photograph and not have a reaction: That person looks unintelligent; this one attracts; that smile is
insincere; it looks like this person could be a friend of mine; this person reminds me of a distant
relative... Whether positive, negative or neutral, I'm not proud of myself for these thoughts—I strive to
be non-judgmental—but I suspect that it's in everyone's nature to have these impressions. Despite the
good reasons for using profile pictures with other social networking sites, a person's head shot on their
LinkedIn profile only introduces bias into an already discrimination-susceptible hiring and recruiting
process.
Social media is strongly visual—the text element often merely explaining accompanying
images. The technological feasibility and ease of photo and video sharing connects people like never
before, and few would argue against the adage comparing the relative worth of pictures and words.
Even in a web-based forum that has very little emphasis on images, a discussion room for an online
class, my personal experience is that interactions are more meaningful if each participant is associated
with an image, i. e. if each member has a profile pic. Because I have often never met my classmates in
person, it takes conscious effort to associate a forum post's author's name with the content of their other
posts—the strings of letters that identify them (their names) simply don't have the same associative
power that an image does. The profile pic, though, doesn't need to be a photograph of the individual,
and in fact, I prefer that it not be because I find myself reading the comments through a lens of

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preconceived biases. Instead the profile pic could be any unique image that could express anything that
the member wants.
Organizations are justified in using actual portrait-style photographs of people to construct a
type of “face book.” If for example, a new employee meets several people on his/her first day, many of
the names of those new co-workers are likely to be forgotten. A reference that helps new employees to
be reminded of the names of the people with whom they commonly work in-person is a great asset. You
could make the same case for classmates. Similarly, two individuals on LinkedIn who share a mutual
contact might have crossed paths before without having the opportunity to learn each others names;
LinkedIn's “People you may know” feature might allow those individuals to recognize each other's
profile pics and form a connection that would have otherwise been impossible.
These examples comprise the exhaustive list of instances of when a profile pic in a professional
setting can have any positive effect. Arguably, the outing of a law firm partner as a misogynist on
account of his sexist remarks regarding a LinkedIn photograph of a colleague might be a positive effect
(Quinn); unfortunately, the colleague had to endure the insult and the partner (yes, still a partner)
remains oblivious to why the comment was offensive. A discussion sparked by a company's recruitment
of construction engineers with photos of attractive women (yes, actual engineers) which prompted
LinkedIn to request that the company use pictures “related to the product advertised” (“Residue”)
might be interpreted positively as advancing gender equality.
But perhaps these personal opinions simply evolve from American culture; perhaps others can
find many more positive uses for profile pictures. LinkedIn boasts 400 million members in 200
countries (“About Us”); a view that originates in a celebrity-obsessed, Hollywood-centric nation most
likely differs from those of a person from a very conservative culture. As a very broad example of
cultural difference, it is not uncommon for job applicants in continental Europe and Asia to include
their photograph (along with much more personal information than is normal for the UK and USA) on

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their resume (Giolando). Whereas, a quick web search for “photographs on resumes” returns numerous
(American) results like, “5 Things You Should Absolutely Never Put on a Resume | Time.com.” To
their credit, LinkedIn decision-makers have provided a lot of granularity in how a profile picture is
shared with other people, whether a picture will show up as a result from a search engine, and even the
visibility of other members' profile pictures. So the software infrastructure is present to accommodate
just about anyone's preferences, but articles from popular online magazines like Entrepreneur
(Shandrow) and LinkedIn itself (“LinkedIn Help”) pressure job seekers by conveying that their chances
of success are lower if the picture isn't shared (and good).
Despite the benefits of profile pics and the norms pervading other some other cultures, ample
evidence shows that the use of such photographs has an overall negative effect on the interactions
between job-seekers and hiring managers.
A photograph reveals a person's body weight at least partially even if the composition limits the
image to only the individual's face. In one study (arising from results of many previous studies that
reached similar conclusions), overweight applicants with the same qualifications as average-weight
applicants were found to be “significantly less employable.” This study came to the same conclusion
when the hiring was for a face-to-face employee/customer interactive job and also for a telephone sales
position in which the selected applicant would only interact by voice (Grant and Mizzo).
Another piece of demographic data often evident from a job candidate's photograph is gender.
Studies suggest not only that women are less likely to be selected for employment than equally
qualified men, but that this tendency is exaggerated among the least experienced managers who are
often making the initial accept or reject decisions (Marlowe, Schneider and Nelson), i. e. probably the
ones looking at the profile pics on LinkedIn.
Social and psychological scientists are able to quantify attractiveness, and attractiveness is
easily gleaned from a photograph. Multiple studies demonstrate that more attractive applicants are

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selected over equally qualified but less attractive applicants (Shannon and Stark), even when the less
attractive candidates were “pleasant and highly-acceptable looking” (Marlowe, Schneider and Nelson).
Some specific exceptions apply to women: In managerial roles and masculine gender-typed
occupations attractiveness actually correlated with perception of lower qualifications and resulted in
lower likelihood of hiring. Beardedness (in men) did not have a measurable effect on hiring decisions
(Shannon and Stark).
Colarelli et al aptly summarized previous research as a part of their study on attitudes toward
affirmative action: “Although a variety of anatomical features are indicative of race, facial features are
the most common markers of race in the scientific literature” (Livingston and Brewer, 2002). The
nature of racism has changed over time from blatant hatred to much more subtle behaviors, and in
hiring decisions discrimination still persists (Zeigert and Hanges). Coercing professionals to provide a
race identifier via profile pic might be considered grounds for perpetrating racism through employee
selection.
Another piece of information derived from a job applicant's photo is their age. A study in 2008
showed that “employers were over 40% more likely to call a female job candidate for an interview” if
their otherwise matched resume indicated that they were younger rather than older (Barrington).
Actually, plenty of studies indicate ageism is a factor that affects both males and females.
Race, gender, age, attractiveness, weight... the list of factors that can be used for unfair (even if
subconscious) discrimination goes on. In fact, still another discriminating factor lies less in the subject
of the photograph: the inequity of the photographs themselves. Some individuals may opt to have
professional studio shots with touch-ups at a cost of nearly $300 according to one article (Strauss). The
same story claimed that for 2011 to 2012 there was a “31% increase in requests for plastic surgery by
consumers looking to improve their social-media photos.” This sort of advantage that can be attained
by more wealthy job-seekers is not the first criticism of LinkedIn's policies which grant increased

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hiring prospects to those who (can and) choose to pay for a premium membership (Emling). (The
premium membership also buys a larger photo.)
Some may argue that opting out of a profile picture is simply delaying the inevitable; many
human resources departments already search for applicants' social media presence to ensure that they
don't engage in any behaviors that are contrary to the values of the hiring organization. In the course of
such an investigation photographs of the candidate are likely to be accessible. Some may argue even
further that proscribing a profile pic starts us down the slippery slope to eventually never meeting face-
to-face again for fear of committing the smallest politically incorrect infraction. Joking advocates of
this dystopian future do provide useful satire (“Maybelline”), but I am not in favor of eradicating the
natural human tendency to be social, to look at each others faces, to read each others expressions. My
position simply supports actively countering unfair prejudice, whether that is done by understanding
the human potential for personal fallacies or deconstructing systems that perpetuate prejudice.
Granted that LinkedIn provides an option to not view job candidates' profile photos, a LinkedIn
recruiter who truly has his or her own best interest in mind when selecting job applicants would do well
to take advantage of this option and not be tempted to act on his or her own prejudices. However,
perhaps LinkedIn should publish the status of this setting and encourage recruiters to use it. A special
symbol that proclaims, “We do not screen applicants based on profile photos!” would enable companies
to demonstrate at least a minimum effort toward diversity and inclusiveness. The ability to sort
companies by that trait would empower job-seekers in finding a conscientious employer with like-
minded values. I personally do not want to be hired by a company that needs to see a photo of me
before agreeing to an interview. I can think of a way to level the playing field even more: LinkedIn
could allow job-seekers and recruiters to provide and view only an applicant's initials rather than given
names that frequently imply gender. Family names can imply ethnicity. Perhaps there should be an
option of hiding this information as well. Recruiters gain no additional insight into an applicant's true

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qualifications by having access to this information. It's in my human nature to want that information,
but I know that I don't always want what's best for me, much less for others.
LinkedIn would do well to change its profile picture policy to allow users to select any image or
avatar. Currently policy states very specifically the format that a profile pic should take and that
LinkedIn may remove any profile pic that is not in compliance. (Shandrow, Feast and others opine that
enforcement is too lax.) After three such instances a user will no longer be allowed to upload any more
pictures. So far, though, LinkedIn has not enforced this policy on me.
LinkedIn is not the only organization that can help in correcting this flawed condition.
Employers who really want to hire the best candidate should take extra steps to distance themselves
from their subconscious biases. Perhaps background checks of candidates on social media can be
outsourced so the pertinent facts about prospective employees that are accessible online can be
separated from the prejudicial baggage. Career advice columnists should stop berating their audience,
saying, “When there isn't a picture, there's an immediate element of mistrust” (Casserly).
LinkedIn is the largest talent pool in the world—unlike anything before in history. It exists at a
time when Americans have made tremendous strides toward attaining equality in civil rights, but so
many people still struggle against prejudice and disparity. A few simple policy changes (not even
requirements, just incentives) could help to shape the entire world's culture for an undeniably better
future. It's not going to spell the end of racism, sexism, or any “ism” on it's own: It's just the right thing
to do.

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Livingston, Robert W., and Marilynn B. Brewer. "What Are We Really Priming? Cue-Based Versus
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