Should you include a photo with your resume?
IT’S the new trend job seekers are being encouraged to embrace to stand out from the crowd — a professional photograph of yourself to accompany your resume.
But is this something you should be jumping on in your effort to land your dream job? Or are there bigger risks to this practice?
This week, online job seeker site OneShift released information that showed only 14 per cent of applicants included a photo of themselves with their resume.
If that figure seems high to you, keep in mind it’s not representative of the entire Australian population. It was from a survey conducted among people from its own database of users so the actual figure is likely to be much lower.
OneShift founder Gen George said including a photo was common practice in some European countries and it’s something Australians should be doing more.
“Candidates that include a photo, these days, have a clear advantage over those that don’t,” she said. “The profiles that get the most attention from prospective employers are always the ones with professional looking photos attached, and this goes the same for your resume.”
Ms George’s argument is that prospective employers are going to Google you anyway so you may as well control their first visual impression.
However, making photos the norm in the initial stages of job applications is also fraught with risk. Employment industry experts warned that adding photos to resumes could increase your risk of being discriminated against.
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