$1000 LinkedIn 'selfies' are the new resume

High-end headshot photographers are being tapped by professionals pursuing that ‘just right’ look to boost their careers.

High-end headshot photographers are being tapped by professionals pursuing that ‘just right’ look to boost their careers.

Look confident but not cocky. Assertive yet approachable. Smart instead of sexy, unless you can pull off both-and only if it’s subtle sexy.

Nailing your professional headshot seems harder and more clutch than ever at a time of record job changes and on-screen first impressions.

The buttoned-up and made-up looks that once dominated business directories and professional profiles now seem stuffy in the work-from-anywhere era.

Selfies are free, but some people chasing that just-so photo for their LinkedIn profile are paying $1000 or more for headshots.

Their quests are fuelling a cottage industry of headshot photographers who offer facial-expression coaching and promise to help even the most insecure subjects look and feel great. 

“I’m not a photographer per se,” says Peter Hurley, who charges $1500 for a headshot session and $300 for each image his clients keep.

“I consider myself a facial conveyance strategist.”

His go-to move is telling people to “squinch,” by which he means raise the lower eyelids - just a tad - in a modified squint. Photographers hoping to mimic his techniques can pay $1800 for one of his weekend workshops. 

Hurley started taking headshots about 20 years ago, having learned the basics of photography while modelling to fund his pursuit of an Olympic sailing berth. (He didn’t make the five-ring regatta, but he had a hell of a six-pack.)

His early clients were fellow models and actors. Now, shooting at studios in New York and Los Angeles, he estimates 90% are business types tired of their bland, yearbook-style profile pics and willing to shell out to stand out. 

In certain ways, the importance of a good headshot is measurable.

LinkedIn, which enjoys more traffic when profiles are more engaging, reports that bios with headshots get 21 times more views than those without, and users receive nine times more connection requests when they include pictures of themselves.

Headshots don’t help everyone equally, says executive recruiter Martha Heller.

She notes that the leaders of a company trying to fill a key position may have predetermined notions of what the ideal candidate should look like. Historically, they’ve often pictured a white man, though clients are increasingly seeking people who will diversify the senior ranks, she says. 

In any case, an applicant’s odds of receiving an offer can be diminished by a headshot that doesn’t match the picture in the boss’s mind.

Catalant, an online marketplace for independent consultants, says freelancers with headshots in their profiles are hired more often, but some businesses screen out names and photos because race and gender markers can play into unconscious biases and disadvantage certain candidates. 

Catalant CEO Pat Petitti recently sat for a new headshot of his own - in a hoodie.

The look sparked a debate with his chief marketing officer, Vinda Souza. She urged him to wear something more formal, so he posed in both a blazer and the sweatshirt. When the proofs came in, Souza conceded that he looked better in an outfit that made him comfortable, rather than stiff.

She doubts a woman could get away with the same, contending that “when a guy dresses down, they’re approachable; when a woman dresses down, they’re sloppy.”

Overdressing can send the wrong message too, she says, adding that for women, “it’s a pretty narrow line to have to walk.”

Men and women who have spent many dollars and hours on a striking headshot say it’s worth it.

The effort can involve wardrobe, hair and makeup consultations spread over several days, plus informal coffee chats to build rapport with the photographer - all before the camera clicks for the first time. 

When it’s over, there are (hopefully) a few frames that depict the best version of the person in them.

Headshot enthusiasts insist the goal is authenticity, not vanity. That can mean an unconventional outfit or backdrop, natural hair, exposed tattoos or even a few un-retouched wrinkles. 

Florida-based photographer David Roth charges $245 for a headshot session and $240 per image, meaning clients who keep a few pictures are pushing four figures.

Despite the expense, Mr. Roth says he’s so busy meeting demand for headshots that he has stopped doing weddings and family portraits. 

He describes his shoots as therapeutic for some people who are critical of their own appearances. His mission, he says, is to produce “scroll-stopping images” - photos that will make a hiring manager pause and linger on someone’s profile when perusing job candidates.

“I tell my clients, ‘I want you to get five extra seconds if we’re lucky,’” he says.