When to Update Your Professional Headshots
How old is your corporate headshot — and do you think it matters? At what point do you NEED to update your professional headshots?
As I've written about before, I'm very involved with one of Northwestern's alumni groups — in fact, this year I'm membership co-chair. We just had a new member orientation that involved collecting photos of our new members for a slideshow, and I also had to collect photos from my fellow members of the Executive Committee for a second slideshow.
It was kind of interesting to see what professional headshots the women chose — and how old the photos were! One woman chose a recent, casual photo but told me she had a second one ready in case that didn't work, noting, “It's 14 years old but I think it still looks like me.” One of our new members admitted she had purposely chosen a photo where she looked younger than she was.
So I thought it might make an interesting discussion here — how old is your professional headshot, and when do you think people should update their professional headshot? After all, we're not talking about dating apps, so does an “older” profile photo matter if you look professional and friendly in it, and it's still recognizable as you?
We've talked a lot about corporate headshots over the years, including best practices for corporate headshots, what to wear for a corporate photograph, how to take a great corporate headshot in glasses, and even how to work with a hair and makeup team for your company headshot. But we haven't really talked about how to assess when you need a NEW corporate headshot. So let's discuss!
Some questions for the discussion:
- What photos do you use for work purposes — and are they different or the same as your profile pictures for LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms?
- How old are the photos that you use for work purposes? If your office offers new headshots every year, do you feel obligated to use the most recent one?
- What changes in your appearance would you make you feel like you needed a new profile shot, i.e., how MUCH gray hair necessitates a new one? (Related question for people whose appearances change regularly, going for different hair colors or eyeglass styles or even from curly hair to straight hair — what does your profile picture look like?)
- If you KNOW you've got an outdated headshot, what's holding you back from getting a new one?
- Are there any headshots you've seen that felt incredibly dated to you, whether it's hairstyle, collar shape, necklace, or worse?
I'm interested to hear what readers think! Let's hear it, ladies — when do you think you need to update your professional headshots?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / AllaSerebrina.
An additional question – let’s say you need headshots, but your organization doesn’t provide them. Where do you recommend getting them done?
Local photography store. In case you’re in NY, I work (in non COVID times) in Rockefeller Center, and there’s a photo/frame store in the concourse that I’ve used for visa photos for work before. Pictures came out nice. I believe they offer business headshots.
If you’re low on cash and/or a new graduate, find a friend with a decent DSLR, a white background with “daylight” light (whether by light or by sunlight) and have them take your photo.
Honestly, one of the newer iphones will work in a pinch since the camera quality is so high, so long as the lighting is right. You can do after editing in Facetune or similar accessible software.
Headshots don’t have to be professional to look really good. The difference between a professional headshot and a well done home headshot is not big enough to pay for one if you don’t have the extra money.
I did this a few months ago to help my sister with her newer iPhone. It took a lot of trial and error, and shifting 6 inches this way or that way, or trying other spots, and lots and lots of bad shots until we got one that looks very good. Can be done though.
I paid a local professional photographer about $100 for a 15 minute session, and I was super happy with them. I did my own hair and makeup. Just pay a professional if you can afford it. They know lighting best.
Agree with the other recommendations. In before times, my professional organization was offering headshot photography to entry level members and students at their conference. I had volunteered to help mentor students that day, and they offered to do my headshot. I was surprised at what a different real photography with professional lighting makes.
My headshot is about 5 years old at this point (taken when I had just joined the firm). My firm doesnt offer new headshots every year. Just occasionally at internal conferences or things. I think I still look very much the same, so I’m not super worried about it, but I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll get a new one at some point soon, especially since my original picture was taken without a blazer (just a blouse) and I’d like to project more authority.
2 things holding me back from updating:
1) People at my company don’t typically change them so it might seem weird to. I’m planning a shift to another practice group next year, so maybe I’ll change it then, when I’ll be working with mostly new people anyways.
2) It takes a lot of effort to look neat and polished but natural, especially with curly hair, so the prospect is sort of daunting.
Oh yes, I have curly hair, too, and I wish there was a two week window to take professional pictures – I only wash every 3 days, and who knows what my hair will look like on the day when I only have one chance.
What? No, adjust your hair washing schedule. It’s one day where the entire point is to look good.
Right but even on a wash day, it’s a total cr@pshoot as to whether you end up looking great or terrible. But I think it’s important to have your headshot reflect the way your hair looks the majority of the time, so curly hair it is!
This. To be clear, I would happily wash my hair the day of if my hair would 100% cooperate and be consistently awesome.
But most curries will agree that this is not usually the case.
*curlies
Jeez.
My old job used to do headshots once a year. Outside. In AUGUST. In DC. I have curly hair so there was just no fighting the deep frizz.
With curly hair for a headshot, I’d take the time to get up early, wash it that morning, and individually wrap/coil the curls on top and in the front for a more put together look prior to diffusing. That is definitely more effort than I’d put in a normal day but for professional headshots you want your curls tamed.
Great tip. Thanks.
I updated mine when I changed hair color in a meaningful way. I may need to update next year if I keep the silver.
In the current climate, I think this is the least of most people’s worries. There was a recent viral story about a women who did a more casual professional photo and how powerful it was: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/womans-linkedin-headshot-viral-message-work-life-balance-73195492
I saw a lot of commentary on this on my socials. The most common reaction was “eyeroll” and just another attention seeking Linkedin post. I get the message she is sending, but tbh your professional photo should just reflect the message you want to convey and the norms for the field you’re in. I’d be weirded out if her newer photo were the one for a high powered lawyer, but it would be perfectly normal for the head of the local farming co-op.
I kind lie in between and settled on professional clothing but not a suit (for me personally that means jewel toned blouse and my going out blazer), my typical makeup but applied more carefully than usual, hair in my usual style but neater, and a relaxed and inviting smile.
I did kind of eyeroll at this being powerful. I mean we know that people are working from home more than before, and we know that if you aren’t going to the office, many people’s instinct is to be more casual. Nothing about this is rocket science. I haven’t changed my headshot because it’s professional, I am a professional, and I want people to think I am a professional when they see my profile, not that I barely rolled out of bed in time to get on the conference call (which I have done and I plan to do again, but I don’t need that to be someone’s impression of me).
You absolutely must update your headshot at least every 10 years. It’s also a good idea to update when you get a promotion. For example, if you’re a partner, you should not be rocking the pic you took on your first day as a brand new associate. Even if it still looks like you (let’s be honest, that’s a big if), you are more mature and advanced in your career now. The bright eager smile you had on your first day really isn’t the look you want to portray now.
My firm did pictures when we updated our website and that was about 9 years ago. I don’t expect them to do pics again for everyone until post COVID, so 2022?
I would say 10 years is way too infrequent. I’d say 5 years at the outside.
My photo is 10 years old but I look exactly. The. Same. Why would I update? It’s a really great photo, professional, and my hair and blouse are not trendy, just classic. It is also black and white for whatever that’s worth, and my hair doesn’t vary much, so I’m sticking with it. If I thought I had a better one or that it didn’t represent me, I’d change it. But I like it a lot and it looks like me. -shrug-
My headshot dates from 2015 & I need a new one, but in the midst of a pandemic, I don’t think that’s possible. I used a wedding photographer who had a side business during the week doing professional headshots. He took about 100 to come up with one decent one. When the pandemic is over, I’ll get a more recent one.
I’m a woman in tech, I will lie about my age until I retire. That said, I have no need for photos except on LinkedIn, and even then I limit it to first degree connections.
This was my first thought, too. (Tech and the bias for youth.)
Not in tech, but also no firm webpage, so no headshot needed, thank goodness. My government ID makes me laugh because it’s the same picture as when I started 7 years ago, and I’m not sure they ever get changed (I found an internal directory of these for my office once and got to see pics ranging from the late 90s to the present). I do occasionally update my LinkedIn photo (which I think is also limited to 1st degree connections), but it’s always a casual pic because without a webpage needing a head shot, I never have professional pics done. I felt weird enough about having a 2 or 3 year old picture on LinkedIn (I feel like I’ve aged a lot since then! and have been letting my gray come in), I do try to update regularly; I don’t want to look like I’m trying to deceive anyone into thinking I’m younger than I am.
I have the opposite problem- I photograph young. For my first photo, I was 24 but looked 15, so I asked the photographer to make me look older. He got me to look so much older that, when I was 30 and still using the same photo, people would meet me for the first time and comment on how I looked younger than in the photo.
I got my current photo 2 years ago, when I was 31. While I look younger in it than my previous photo, it looks more like myself than a stiff 30-something – plus I have more of a resume built up now.
My headshot (which is only on LinkedIn, but still) is woefully out of date – it’s nearly 14 years old. I think I still look mostly like my photo, but I’ve let my hair go grey, and, well, 14 years. But I am terribly unphotogenic so it’s a whole project to get a new one taken. I had taken some steps toward that in early 2020, but then Covid happened, and we are still isolating pretty strictly, so the idea of being physically close to a photographer is unnerving.
My plan is to hire a bo*doir photographer – I figure they’re used to working with subjects who are nervous and helping them relax, and they know about finding someone’s good side. It’s far more involved than a normal person would need, but the last time I tried to get cheap shots, they looked, well, cheap.
My last headshot was about 8 years ago, and it still looks like me; I’m early on in my career. Recently finished Invisalign though, so I’m hoping to take an updated headshot with a greenery background, instead of a studio setting, which I think is more modern and will last me the next 5 – 10 years. I moved out of banking to a more relaxed industry though, so I can enjoy more flexibility here. Going to try it out with a friend who is an amateur photographer before going to a professional photographer though.
Our company does them about every ten years. They are like the DMV. Sit, flash, done, no second chances. And then they are in the employee directory and show up on all the emails you send, for ten years.
I hate the current one — it’s several hair colors/styles ago and I don’t like what I’m wearing — but a new one would absolutely be worse. I would have to get professional hair and makeup as I don’t trust myself to do either. And I just don’t want to put myself through the stress.