Do You Need A Professional Photo For Your CV?

Sushanta Das
5 min readMay 31, 2022

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Putting a photo on your resume is a noble idea if you are looking for something to make your CV stand out from the crowd. However, having a photo on the resume may negatively impact your CV and get it rejected. But some situations may necessitate that you add a professional photo to your CV. Therefore, ensure to use a Picture Background Remover to edit your photo to make it look professional.

For instance, if you are applying for an acting job, having a professional photo on your CV can help you secure a chance for an interview. Also, a modelling resume requires that you put a professional photo on the resume to be selected to face the panel.

But you will not just put any photo on the resume. The photo you choose to use must be professional and meet some basic standards. Read on to see some of the things you must-do if you decide to put a photo on your CV.

Ensure To Take A Good Photo

When you opt to add a photo to your resume, it should be professional to leave a positive impression on you. The photo should be well lit and must show what you are wearing. Ensure to put it on professionally when taking the photo. If you choose to wear casual, it should be business casual attire.

Do not use selfies on the CV. Instead, make use of a front-facing professional photo. The photo should then be edited and tailored to help you look professional. Besides, ensure to face the camera when taking the photo. There should be enough light to make your face visible. Your hair should be neat, and you must wear clothes that cover tattoos if you have some.

How You Can Take A Good Photo

The first step to taking a good photo is to get a good camera. You may use DSLR smartphones such as iPhone Pro, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel. The phones have high-quality cameras that guarantee wonderful images.

The dressing code should be good. Dress in casual business attire or semi-formal dresses. If the nature of your work requires you to wear a lab coat or some uniform, you can wear them. However, avoid sunglasses and overly casual attire such as T-shirts.

The Background

Check and ensure that the background is solid and does not feature distracting elements such as wood or brick. Also, ensure that no other person, pet, or object appears in the background. If possible, use soft and natural light when taking the photo. Do not use shadow-causing light?

Let An Expert Take The Photo.

Do not take selfies since they take photos at an angle. Only allow people who have experience in photo-taking to take the photo.

Smile A Bit

Your facial expression is important as it tells your employer a lot about you. So a little smile tells the potential employer that you are easy to work with. Also, remember to look straight into the picture. And ensure the photographer does not shake when taking the photo. It helps to enhance the quality and sharpness of the image. Lastly, ensure to choose an appropriate frame that leaves some space above the head and shoulders.

Of course, people make common mistakes when taking photos, but they should be avoided. They include:

  • Having a bad quality or blurred face
  • Inappropriate over and underdress
  • Unnatural pose
  • Distracting backgrounds

Unfortunately, even after taking precautions when taking photos, you may end up with an imperfect photo for your resume. Therefore, you should adjust the image and remove the background to make it stunning. There are plenty of free software and Background Image Remover tools to use to edit the photo before you attach it to your CV. Adobe Photoshop program features a range of tools you may use to edit your photo.

Editing Using Adobe Photoshop

Adobe is a powerful but intuitive tool to help you get a perfect photo to use on your CV. You’ll need to do is to download the software and prepare the photo you want to edit.

Crop the photo so that you remove unnecessary elements that may distract anyone looking at it. Editing the photo allows you to create more drama to enhance the impact. By making use of the crop tool, you may improve the photo’s composition by cropping the face. It helps to emphasize more on the features.

Go to the drop-down menu at the right corner and drag the corners to achieve the desired crop. Cropping the photo gives prominence to unique features in the photo. You may also resize the image and use adobe tools to help in Background Remove.

Editing will also help you correct any exposure issues. If the photo was overexposed, you could use photo suite tools to correct it and bring out the details. To do this, import the photograph into adobe photoshop and click on the menu bar. You will then need to select an appropriate tool and use it to increase brightness, shadows, curves and even toning.

If you are using the Adobe tools for the first time, it will be easier to increase brightness, shadows, contrast, and highlights. You will do this by moving the slider to the right or the left and making the necessary adjustments.

Colour Adjustments

If you did not adjust the camera’s white balance when taking the photo, it might be necessary to make colour corrections on the final photos before you use it on your CV. An incorrect white balance results in a colour cast that affects the photos’ vibrancy, contrast, and saturation. As such, it necessitates that you use colour correction in your photoshop. Photoshop has plenty of tools to correct and make your colours accurate. Colour balance is thus one of the tools you can use to adjust a specific colour. For instance, if the face in the photo appears too yellow, use selective colours to adjust it. If it appears too red, the tool can also adjust it accordingly.

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Sushanta Das
Sushanta Das

Written by Sushanta Das

I am a blogger and like to write blogs.

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