International

Should you put a photo on your resume?

It is a regional convention, not a matter of taste -- and getting it wrong reads as not knowing the market.

4 min read

This question gets answered as if there were one right answer. There is not — there is a regional convention, and the cost of getting it wrong is that you look like someone who does not know the market they are applying to.

The short version

Leave it off: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand.

Put it on: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands (increasingly optional), Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, the Balkans, most of Latin America, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, much of the Middle East, parts of Africa.

Check first: Nordics (varies, often omitted), India (varies by sector), Singapore and Hong Kong (often omitted in multinationals, common in local firms), South Africa.

When you genuinely cannot tell: leave it off. A missing photo is a smaller deviation than an unexpected one.

Why the English-speaking markets removed it

Not squeamishness — liability.

In the US, a rejected candidate can allege discrimination on the basis of race, age, sex or disability. A photo in the file makes that allegation easier to make and harder to defend, because it proves the employer had the information. Many companies therefore strip photos before a hiring manager sees anything, and some ask you not to send one. The UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand follow the same logic.

The practical consequence is that a photo does not help you in those markets even slightly, and it can send your file down a different path.

Why continental Europe kept it

A CV there is closer to a formal personal record than a marketing document. Personal details — date of birth, nationality, sometimes marital status — have historically been part of it, and the photo goes with that. The Europass format, which some EU institutions still request by name, has fields for exactly these.

In Germany the convention is particularly strong: a Bewerbungsfoto is a specific category of professional photography, and a cheap or casual photo reads worse than none. In France, Spain and Italy it is normal but less formalised.

There is a working note on Europass and its optional fields on the Europass template page.

Asia

Japan has the most structured convention of all: the rirekisho is a standard form with a defined photo box, and the photo is expected to follow specific rules on size, background and dress.

South Korea, China and Taiwan generally expect a photo on a local-format resume.

India varies — common in some sectors, absent in tech and multinationals.

Singapore and Hong Kong often omit it at multinationals and include it at local firms.

When it is expected, make it good

A weak photo is worse than no photo in a market where photos are normal, because it becomes evidence of judgement.

Do:

  • Recent — within about two years
  • Head and shoulders, face taking up most of the frame
  • Plain, uncluttered background
  • Even, soft light from the front
  • Business dress matching the sector you are applying to
  • Neutral or slightly warm expression, looking at the camera
  • Sharp, correctly exposed, decent resolution

Do not:

  • Crop yourself out of a group photo — someone's shoulder is always still there
  • Use a passport photo; the lighting and expression are wrong for this
  • Use a holiday, wedding or gym photo
  • Use sunglasses, a hat, or heavy filters
  • Use a selfie, unless it is genuinely indistinguishable from a portrait
  • Use a photo where you are visibly ten years younger

If a professional shot is not realistic, a plain wall, a window for light and someone else holding a phone at eye level gets you most of the way there.

Where the photo sits

Position is set by the template, and the difference is real: a small circular avatar in a header reads as a modern touch, while a large formal portrait top-right reads as a traditional European CV.

  • Small header avatar — Professional, Modern, Classic, Aurora, Student
  • Formal portrait block — Europass, Minimal Formal, Modern Right, Portfolio
  • Sidebar portrait — Portfolio, Freelancer, Infographic, Software Engineer
  • No photo by design — ATS Friendly, Harvard Style, LaTeX Style, Academic CV, Swiss, Consulting

In every template the photo is optional, and removing it rebalances the header rather than leaving a hole — so keeping one version with and one without costs nothing.

The practical setup

If you are applying across regions, this is the thing worth doing: keep the same content and switch the photo per market.

  • Applying to Berlin and Boston in the same week? Photo on for one, off for the other.
  • Not sure about the market? Off.
  • Explicitly asked for one? On, and make it a good one.

LinkedIn is different

Always have a photo on LinkedIn, everywhere, including the US and UK. It is a network profile rather than an application document, the norms are different, and profiles without a photo get materially less engagement.

FAQ

Common questions

No. US employers commonly strip photos to reduce discrimination-claim exposure, and some ATS configurations reject documents with images attached to the candidate record. It creates a problem rather than solving one.

In much of continental Europe -- Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy and most of central and eastern Europe -- a photo is normal and its absence can be noticed. The UK and Ireland are the exception and follow the US convention.

The parser ignores the image, so it does no parsing harm. The risk is human and policy-based, not technical -- except where a specific employer configuration rejects image-bearing files.

A recent head-and-shoulders shot, plain background, even light, business dress matching the sector, neutral or slightly warm expression. Not a cropped holiday photo and not a passport picture.