There is no such thing as a right or wrong CV.\u00a0 It is subjective, opinions differ by country, sector, and of course by individuals.\u00a0 Whether you put a photo on your CV is completely up to you, but here are few things to consider.<\/p>\n
Your CV acts as your sales and marketing brochure, or website. \u00a0Its purpose is to promote and sell you, your ability, and your experience to a potential employer.\u00a0 Ultimately you must be comfortable and confident that it best represents who you are, as well as what you can do.<\/p>\n
Successful sales in any situation are ultimately about gaining the\u00a0trust<\/strong>\u00a0of your customers before they commit, and the level of trust required before a decision will usually depend on the value of the investment or purchase being made.\u00a0\u00a0 A decision to employ someone full time is a high value decision requiring a high level of trust.\u00a0 The less you know about something or someone, the less trust you will likely have.\u00a0 In other words, the less you know or the more that is hidden, the less likely you are to trust that person.\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t accept LinkedIn invitations from people they don\u2019t know and don\u2019t have a photo on their profile for this reason.<\/p>\n Recently phrases such as \u201cAttitude is everything\u201d and \u201cHire for attitude, skills can be taught\u201d are often heard, and when recruiting most people genuinely want to know WHO you are, as well as WHAT you are (what you can do).\u00a0 \u00a0Having the right skills and knowledge to do a job you are applying for becomes the baseline and in many cases can be taught, and so the challenge then becomes how to communicate\u00a0who you are<\/strong>\u00a0through your CV in order to get an interview.\u00a0 Invariably short-listed candidates have similar qualifications and experience and often the deciding factor can be personality, values, and fit for the team.\u00a0 The question then shifts from \u201cCan they do the job?\u201d to \u201cHow will they do the job?<\/p>\n You will have a greater chance of getting an interview if you can connect with the employer\/recruiter through their\u00a0mind<\/strong>\u00a0and their\u00a0heart<\/strong>.\u00a0 Facts and details about what you studied and where you have worked will tick the mind box.\u00a0 Your personal story will work on the heart and communicate WHO you are.\u00a0 This forms part of your\u00a0personal brand<\/strong>, or how others perceive you.\u00a0 Good brands tell good stories and\u00a0good storytelling is an art<\/strong>.\u00a0 Stories engage people, connect with their hearts and emotions, and make things more memorable.\u00a0 That is why children love being read bedtime stories and why people love a good book or movie.\u00a0 How can you weave parts of your story into your CV, dropping hints and insights about WHO you are, what you like, and what you value?<\/p>\n Many CV\u2019s we receive are like black and white product spec sheets that simply have the person\u2019s name, contact details, attributes, and no photo, not too dissimilar to a spec sheet that might fall out of the box of a new TV you have just bought.\u00a0\u00a0 Spec sheets are not usually used to sell products or services.\u00a0 There is usually a glossy brochure or a cool website to do this job, so why has traditional advice around CV\u2019s been to do things this way?<\/p>\n The answer is\u00a0bias<\/strong>.\u00a0 To try and remove bias from the decision-making process and choose candidates for interviews based on your skills and experience alone.\u00a0 How old you are, what nationality you are, what tattoos you have, what hair style you have, your gender, shouldn\u2019t come into it right? \u00a0\u00a0The reality is most people like to think that they are not biased, but conscious and unconscious bias is everywhere and unfortunately everyone has some form of bias to varying degrees\u2026 and if that bias is there, it will be there at the time of looking at your CV, at the time someone looks at your LinkedIn profile, and certainly when you turn up for an interview.\u00a0 Thankfully in this day and age, most people support inclusivity and diverse thinking, and we would certainly hope the various biases that have existed in the past are on their way out.<\/p>\n Whilst we accept bias can be an issue when putting your photo on your CV, we also think there can be many positives as well, and as they say, \u201ca picture paints a thousand words\u201d.<\/p>\n So, whether you should include a photo on your CV or not is completely up to you.\u00a0 Whatever you feel confident and comfortable with, and what\u00a0you think<\/strong>\u00a0gives you the best chance to build trust and get an interview, that is the right choice.<\/p>\n