CAREER PURSUIT 2021

EXPERT ADVICE - SELF-EMPLOYMENT 28 HOW TO TAKE A GREAT LINKEDIN HEADSHOT WITHOUT BEING A PRO etween 60 and 70% of all communication is non- verbal, so in an online world, your photo may convey more to your potential audience than whatever you say. When you look at the images you’re posting of yourself on networking websites or that you send with your CV, do they really show you off in the best way? If not, why? Isn’t it time you did something about it? Can you afford not to? SCOPE Let’s get a couple of things straight before we start. I am not going to be telling you that you can produce this or this... ...within this article. They’re taken with professional lighting and cameras and have been created with ten years of photography experience. I am going to tell you how you can make minor changes to what you’re probably already doing, to help you achieve an image that says “I care about how I present myself ” to a prospective client or employer. We’ll be taking LinkedIn as the intended destination for our image, as this will dictate some of the factors we’ll have to consider. We’ll also be using a smartphone to take the picture. Sure, if you’ve got a DSLR camera and external lighting, feel free to use them. But to get the results we’re looking for here, you should be able to do it all with just your phone. This may require some low-cost purchases. I’m talking about a bit of white and other coloured cards, possibly some thin, white fabric… £20 max! At the end of the day, if that’s all you’re spending, then it’s not a lot to produce a pretty decent image. Consider this cost against what you might otherwise spend on a professional photographer. By Al Topping Are you a business professional who is active on social media? Are you thinking about or have recently been applying for a new job? Do you want to stand out from the crowd but don’t know how? Well, perhaps it’s not what you’re saying that you need to change; maybe it’s how you look. B