Welcome to Part 1 of our series on headshots. Today we ask and answer the question: How Often Should You Refresh Your Headshots? The real answer to this question is: It depends! I know that seems like a cop out, but it’s the truth.
Throughout this article, we are going to discuss several factors that should go into answering this question for you. But first, let’s talk about why I think headshots are so important for almost everyone.
I like to think of headshots as the packaging/advertisement for the product(you). Think of when you go shopping online. There are likely dozens of items that match the description of what you are looking to buy, but let’s pretend there are just two and there is no real difference in their initial descriptions. Now imagine one has that excellent photo that is nice and clean. Someone obviously cared about taking this photo. The other has a photo that looks weathered, outdated, and was taken in someone’s basement as an afterthought. Which one are you likely to read more about first? We can all agree: the first. Headshots are similar in that we want them to show how we present ourselves.
So now for what factors should matter to you.
The first factor that goes into determining how often you should get headshots done is the purpose of the headshots. If you are an actor, model, or some other type of figure that may be(or want to be) publicly recognized, you should probably get your headshots taken quite often. This will ensure that you have an up-to-date look, as well as several poses that will fit the position or role that you send headshots out for.
If you are a business professional, headshots play several roles depending on exactly what you do. If you are looking for a job, you should most definitely have an up-to-date-headshot. Whether you include that on your resume or cover letter is up to you, but rest assured that hiring managers and recruiters do their homework and will find you on LinkedIn or other social site, so your headshot should be accurate. I find up-to-date headshots to be especially important for anyone in a client/customer facing role. This gives the person on the “receiving” end a good idea of what to expect and generally puts someone at ease when expectations are met by reality.
In general, your headshots should be updated accordingly with your look. One hiring manager I spoke with said, “If you’re updating your resume, you should update your headshots”. Another said “It depends on how much of a physical change has occurred.”
Before I continue, I think it is important to stress that out of all of the hiring professionals I spoke to, not one mentioned anything about someone’s “looks”. The importance in all of their eyes was how a person presents themselves. You wouldn’t walk into an interview in sweats, right? RIGHT!?! Please say, “right”. Well, using a selfie taken in your bedroom is just like that.
Now that we have that out of the way….
As someone who works in an extension of the marketing industry, I always find it important to keep things fresh. What do I mean by “keep things fresh”? Well, I’m glad you asked. There is a reason why big companies cycle through different ads on TV. They don’t want you to get used to them and become deaf/blind to them.
If you are getting professional headshots done, you’ve already recognized the importance of the process and are willing to pay a little money for it. Likely the photographer you are working with, will be more than happy to(for a little more money) take multiple shots of you in different outfits or with different backgrounds.
Why is this important? If you have, let’s just say, 4-8 different headshots that vary slightly in look, it affords you the opportunity to change them out and rotate them every couple of months. You may not be looking for a new job, but there are certainly recruiters looking for you(or someone like you) to fill roles in their organizations. By rotating out your headshots on a regular basis, it is more likely that your photo will POP off the screen at them. Remember, this is your own personal advertisement.
Take some time and speak to your photographer about what you want to do, what angles you think are most flattering and which you don’t like. We will discuss this more in Part 2 of our series on headshots, which will cover how to dress and pose for your headshots.
Another reason you should consider updating your headshots, is as simple as understanding that we have been in the midst of this pandemic for close to two years now and remote work is likely here to stay. Now, I love remote work. Why go to the office when I can stay in my cozy house and not deal with traffic? But, along with that, comes remote meetings and more email.
I have found that clients are more receptive to emails where my signature includes a photo of me(of course it’s a professional headshot). This puts a face with a name and a human on the other side of the screen. People tend to be friendlier. Teams and Zoom meetings have also likely become part of your everyday work life. If you don’t HAVE to be on camera for those meetings, you likely pick and choose which ones to be on. It looks better to the other person(s), if when they look at the screen they at least see a photo of you rather than just your initials.
I hope this has helped to show you the importance of having your headshots professionally taken and edited. Join me in the rest of the series to learn more tips and tricks to make your headshots really work for you.
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