Should I Include a Photo on My Resume?

Resume photo conventions vary significantly by country. What's standard in one market is actively discouraged — or even illegal to request — in another. Getting this wrong doesn't just look unprofessional; in markets where photos are discouraged, it can signal that you're unfamiliar with local norms.

Include a photo: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Eastern Europe, the Middle East, many Asian markets (Japan, South Korea, China), and most Latin American countries. In these markets, a professional headshot on a resume is standard and expected.

Do not include a photo: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. In these markets, a photo on a resume is unusual and can make employers uncomfortable — they want to avoid any suggestion that appearance influenced hiring decisions. Many employers in these countries actively discard resumes with photos to protect themselves from discrimination claims.

When in doubt: check the norms for the specific country, not just the language. A French-speaking Swiss or Belgian company expects a photo; a North American company operating in French does not.

In these markets, the concern is hiring bias. Research consistently shows that photos introduce irrelevant signals — age, gender, race, attractiveness — that can unconsciously affect hiring decisions. Employment discrimination law in the US, UK, and Australia makes employers cautious: asking for a photo is sometimes considered inappropriate, and including one without being asked can put the employer in an awkward position.

From a practical standpoint: if you include a photo on a US, UK, or Australian resume, many HR professionals will simply remove it or create a version without it before sharing internally — or will wonder why you included it. It rarely helps and can occasionally hurt.

The ATS dimension: most ATS systems used in the UK and US either can't parse images or strip them out entirely. A photo in a resume header can confuse the parsing, sometimes corrupting the formatting or knocking out nearby text. This is a practical argument against photos in these markets regardless of bias concerns.

If you're applying in a market where photos are standard, quality matters. A poor photo can work against you more than no photo at all.

Characteristics of a good resume photo:
- Professional headshot — head and shoulders, facing the camera or at a slight angle
- Neutral or professional background (plain white, light grey, or blurred)
- Professional attire appropriate to your industry
- Good, even lighting — natural light or softbox; no harsh shadows
- Clear, sharp image — not blurry or pixelated
- Genuine, composed expression — you don't need to beam, but look approachable

Avoid:
- Casual or vacation photos cropped from group shots
- Sunglasses, filters, or editing that alters your appearance significantly
- Inappropriate attire
- Very old photos — use one from the last 2–3 years
- Low resolution or heavily compressed images

A professional headshot doesn't require a photographer — a recent photo taken in good natural light against a clean background, with a decent phone camera, is usually sufficient.

When a photo is appropriate, the standard placement is the top right corner of the resume, alongside your name and contact details. The typical size is 3.5 × 4.5 cm (roughly passport photo dimensions) or equivalent for the resume format.

Format: JPEG or PNG embedded in the document. PDFs handle embedded images more reliably than Word documents, which can reflow on different screen sizes.

File size: keep the overall resume file under 2MB. Very high-resolution photos inflate file size without meaningful quality gain at the dimensions used on a resume.

Consistency: if you have a LinkedIn profile (and most candidates should), consider using the same photo across both. Recruiters often cross-reference, and consistency reinforces a professional, coherent personal brand.

The no-photo rule has clear exceptions in industries where appearance is directly relevant to the work.

Acting and modelling: casting requires appearance information. A headshot is not just acceptable — it's a mandatory part of the application. The headshot in creative industries has its own conventions: format, retouching norms, and what to feature differ from standard business resume photos.

Presenting and on-screen roles: similar logic applies. On-screen talent applications routinely include headshots.

Flight attendant and hospitality roles: some international airlines and luxury hospitality employers (particularly in Asia and the Middle East) include photos in their application requirements, even when applying from markets where photos aren't standard.

For standard office or professional roles in the UK, US, or Australia: these exceptions don't apply. The no-photo rule holds.