Would you put a photo of yourself on your CV or not?
September 16, 2025
Basically the title. When applying for a job or anything else you need to submit a CV/resume for, would you put a photo of yourself on it or not? And how important is it?
29 comments
I have been once told that your photo is the only thing that makes your CV unique. It also helps being considered as a person and not as another CV on the pile. Both make a CV more easily rememberable than a list of competences. Since then I always put a photo on my CV.
It’s the standard in EU CVs so I’ve done it despite thinking it’s meaningless and actually a bad idea.
Yes normally I would. It’s not mandatory in Denmark by any means, but it’s quite normal to have a small photo on your cv here.
No, I don’t. It’s also explicitly discouraged in many job ads these days (we have a policy to ask people to not put photos, for example).
When I started applying 10 years ago I did, nowadays I don’t. They don’t want you to anymore and I’m glad it changed to this.
UK – no, and when i’ve been hiring I don’t think i’ve ever seen one.
I would probably pay closer attention for the novelty value.
these days its probably helpful to get a feel for if the person is male/female (or whatever) – i did quite often get names i’d never come across and so have no cultural feeling for, you just see who turns up (pre google)
There isn’t one specific rule about that but some companies don’t want photos and personally I agree with that, so no, I wouldn’t.
More and more companies in Denmark state that to ensure unbiased selection or something like that, they ask job applicants NOT to include a photo.
I don’t, out of principle.
Most CVs get filtered by ATS nowadays, anyway, so it’s content that matters (sort of, since ATS are janky af).
No, unless it’s modelling or similar job. I think probably the customs depend by country, but I think in many countries adding a photo of yourself to an application for an office job could be seen as unprofessional.
I’ve done it in past but for sure I will never do it again.
Not only photo but also full address, date of birth and so on a lot of unnecessary information I always exclude from my CV. If the info isn’t relevant to my job it simply isn’t there.
Absolutely not. I regularly hire people and it’s such an ‘absolutely not’ that I’d automatically discount any CV that included one.
I’m English.
In engineering.
As a candidate, never.
As someone hiring, there’s something I find unprofessional about a photo on a CV beyond the junior level. It’s like you should know better.
I am in recruiting and 99% of applicants have a photo
It’s not required and of course we don’t hire because of a photo or not
But if you are invited to a job interview you will definitely be “the one without the photo”
Do not put a photo, do not put your full address, do not put your date of birth. Make sure your last job is on top of the page and your first job is all the way at the bottom. Put a short paragraph up top, describing your skills and experience in relation to the role you’re applying for. I’ve been hiring for about 20 years. Ask me anything if you want more info.
No and I actually quite strongly object to the practice. The bias that having a photo can introduce is enormous.
I have an immigrant last name but I look Swedish so I put a photo on my CV to better my chances of getting a job.
Yes, its the standard in Portugal. Though some IT based industries are doing it less but it’s still standard. I’ve never seen a CV without a picture where I have worked.
It is rare in Ireland.
As a hiring manager I do not want photos on CVs:
(1) It’s not a beauty contest.
(2) It’s an opportunity for bias. (Age, Color, Gender, Ethnicity)
(3) It messes with our automated CV readers.
(4) HR removes all photos before they reach us, so butchered CVs
I would take the responses here with a grain of salt because the norms heavily depend on the country. When I lived in Ireland it was an absolute no-go to put your photo on your CV and I was totally fine with that. Now I live in Switzerland where the norm is to have a photo and if you don’t have a photo then most recruiters will just throw away your CV since they assume you’re hiding something.
In Switzerland it’s the norm to add a lot of personal information on your CV like marriage status and how many kids you have. Personally, I have my nationality and work permit status, but no marital status because I find that totally irrelevant. Plus people my age are assumed to be single (mid 20s).
I don’t mind adding a photo and I guess I am privileged since I am an average looking ethnically European person. I can totally see though how racist recruiters could easily discriminate based on that.
I never have, and never will. I also don’t include my date of birth or the university that awarded my degree. It’s too easy to induce bias, positive or negative.
Unless I’m on the hunt for a model job, no I would not. That was a long way of writing, no. At almost 60 I do not expect to be searching for anymore jobs.
While it was required (1995-2010 or so) I did it. Now it’s, thankfully, forbidden, and some companies even anonymize their CVs for hiring, which is also great, because they basically hire for what one can do, not for the looks.
No, never done that and would never think to. I’ve done a little bit of recruitment work in my current company too, not seen hundreds of CVs to be fair but probably several dozen and not seen one that had a photo on.
UK: No, it’s really not a standard thing to have a photo on or attached to your CV.
Recruiters/employers may fall foul of equality laws if they request one to be included (e.g. to prevent racial or age discrimination).
When I did put my photo on a CV not a single company hired me. I recreated my CV: removed the photo but the content was pretty much the same, very little changes. I sent the CV’s and got 4 responses. Now I am working in one of those companies.
In Germany it used to be the norm, but the practice has changed a bit in the last 10-15 years or so. Personally I don’t include it for big or modern companies, but I do for smaller or old-fashioned ones.
When in doubt you should include one in Germany though unless they specifically ask you not to. That’s the safest way.
I do because it’s generally expected in Germany. I saw someone say it’s no longer a thing in Germany but it absolutely is. I have several friends who work in recruiting and they say the vast majority of applications have a photo.
It’s not the norm to do so in Ireland and many employers will specifically state not to. Same with marriage status or dob (not even sure if you can legally ask those ones tbh).
29 comments
I have been once told that your photo is the only thing that makes your CV unique. It also helps being considered as a person and not as another CV on the pile. Both make a CV more easily rememberable than a list of competences. Since then I always put a photo on my CV.
It’s the standard in EU CVs so I’ve done it despite thinking it’s meaningless and actually a bad idea.
Yes normally I would. It’s not mandatory in Denmark by any means, but it’s quite normal to have a small photo on your cv here.
No, I don’t. It’s also explicitly discouraged in many job ads these days (we have a policy to ask people to not put photos, for example).
When I started applying 10 years ago I did, nowadays I don’t. They don’t want you to anymore and I’m glad it changed to this.
UK – no, and when i’ve been hiring I don’t think i’ve ever seen one.
I would probably pay closer attention for the novelty value.
these days its probably helpful to get a feel for if the person is male/female (or whatever) – i did quite often get names i’d never come across and so have no cultural feeling for, you just see who turns up (pre google)
There isn’t one specific rule about that but some companies don’t want photos and personally I agree with that, so no, I wouldn’t.
More and more companies in Denmark state that to ensure unbiased selection or something like that, they ask job applicants NOT to include a photo.
I don’t, out of principle.
Most CVs get filtered by ATS nowadays, anyway, so it’s content that matters (sort of, since ATS are janky af).
No, unless it’s modelling or similar job. I think probably the customs depend by country, but I think in many countries adding a photo of yourself to an application for an office job could be seen as unprofessional.
I’ve done it in past but for sure I will never do it again.
Not only photo but also full address, date of birth and so on a lot of unnecessary information I always exclude from my CV. If the info isn’t relevant to my job it simply isn’t there.
Absolutely not. I regularly hire people and it’s such an ‘absolutely not’ that I’d automatically discount any CV that included one.
I’m English.
In engineering.
As a candidate, never.
As someone hiring, there’s something I find unprofessional about a photo on a CV beyond the junior level. It’s like you should know better.
I am in recruiting and 99% of applicants have a photo
It’s not required and of course we don’t hire because of a photo or not
But if you are invited to a job interview you will definitely be “the one without the photo”
Do not put a photo, do not put your full address, do not put your date of birth. Make sure your last job is on top of the page and your first job is all the way at the bottom. Put a short paragraph up top, describing your skills and experience in relation to the role you’re applying for. I’ve been hiring for about 20 years. Ask me anything if you want more info.
No and I actually quite strongly object to the practice. The bias that having a photo can introduce is enormous.
I have an immigrant last name but I look Swedish so I put a photo on my CV to better my chances of getting a job.
Yes, its the standard in Portugal. Though some IT based industries are doing it less but it’s still standard. I’ve never seen a CV without a picture where I have worked.
It is rare in Ireland.
As a hiring manager I do not want photos on CVs:
(1) It’s not a beauty contest.
(2) It’s an opportunity for bias. (Age, Color, Gender, Ethnicity)
(3) It messes with our automated CV readers.
(4) HR removes all photos before they reach us, so butchered CVs
I would take the responses here with a grain of salt because the norms heavily depend on the country. When I lived in Ireland it was an absolute no-go to put your photo on your CV and I was totally fine with that. Now I live in Switzerland where the norm is to have a photo and if you don’t have a photo then most recruiters will just throw away your CV since they assume you’re hiding something.
In Switzerland it’s the norm to add a lot of personal information on your CV like marriage status and how many kids you have. Personally, I have my nationality and work permit status, but no marital status because I find that totally irrelevant. Plus people my age are assumed to be single (mid 20s).
I don’t mind adding a photo and I guess I am privileged since I am an average looking ethnically European person. I can totally see though how racist recruiters could easily discriminate based on that.
I never have, and never will. I also don’t include my date of birth or the university that awarded my degree. It’s too easy to induce bias, positive or negative.
Unless I’m on the hunt for a model job, no I would not. That was a long way of writing, no. At almost 60 I do not expect to be searching for anymore jobs.
While it was required (1995-2010 or so) I did it. Now it’s, thankfully, forbidden, and some companies even anonymize their CVs for hiring, which is also great, because they basically hire for what one can do, not for the looks.
No, never done that and would never think to. I’ve done a little bit of recruitment work in my current company too, not seen hundreds of CVs to be fair but probably several dozen and not seen one that had a photo on.
UK: No, it’s really not a standard thing to have a photo on or attached to your CV.
Recruiters/employers may fall foul of equality laws if they request one to be included (e.g. to prevent racial or age discrimination).
When I did put my photo on a CV not a single company hired me. I recreated my CV: removed the photo but the content was pretty much the same, very little changes. I sent the CV’s and got 4 responses. Now I am working in one of those companies.
In Germany it used to be the norm, but the practice has changed a bit in the last 10-15 years or so. Personally I don’t include it for big or modern companies, but I do for smaller or old-fashioned ones.
When in doubt you should include one in Germany though unless they specifically ask you not to. That’s the safest way.
I do because it’s generally expected in Germany. I saw someone say it’s no longer a thing in Germany but it absolutely is. I have several friends who work in recruiting and they say the vast majority of applications have a photo.
It’s not the norm to do so in Ireland and many employers will specifically state not to. Same with marriage status or dob (not even sure if you can legally ask those ones tbh).