Mar 27, 2014
Education
College Advises Students: Ditch the Selfies
As college seniors gear up for recruiting season, they’re printing out their résumés and ironing their interview suits. At one college, they’re also getting professional headshots to add polish to their online profiles.
It’s no longer enough to just delete embarrassing pictures from Facebook before venturing into the job market. Recognizing the need for a crisp online image, Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., this month began offering students free, professional headshots to enhance their profiles on career-networking sites like LinkedIn.
The idea came about during an on-campus training session about using social media in the job search. School officials discussed why students needed to tidy their Facebook pages and how to interact with recruiters on Twitter. They also explained why a complete LinkedIn profile, with photo, helps a person stand out in a sea of applicants.
LinkedIn profiles with photos are 11 times more likely to be viewed than those without images, according to the networking site. And a high-quality image with good lighting and a neutral background tends to hook employers more than sloppy selfies, career experts say.
Lawrence has invited all of its students to get their photos taken by a professional photographer. Increasingly, freshmen and sophomores compete for internships too, says Mary Meany, the college’s dean of career services.
So far about 135 students, including performers, French majors and psychology students, have taken the school up on its offer.
The photo sessions have offline benefits, too, says Ms. Meany. Sitting for a formal photo in a collared shirt and blazer, she says, prompts students to think about their professional futures and can help them visualize what life after college will look like.
Additional reading:
Are You a Social Media Star? Accenture Is Looking for You.
Metropolitan College of New York had launched a professional photo session for all of their students and Alumni at their annual Career and Internship Fair in the spring of 2013. The photographer took professional photos of current students and Alumni for students to use for their LinkedIn or other social media accounts. The photos sessions was very well attended and a rousing success!
In the age of global business social media platforms it’s a given that a good profile will feature a quality professional photo. A powerful online personal brand identity is more important than ever as students seek employment opportunities. This initiative was lead by the Office of Career Services at MCNY.
Lets also not forget to give credit to Valerie Kessie, the brave student who allowed permission to publish the photo with her in it.
Lynne is right. Rachel (the lovely photographer in the shot) was the originator of this brilliant concept and should receive the credit she so richly deserves. In the old days Journalists used to interview people and get the entire story, but that’s not how the Internet rolls, is it?
I’m betting even Lawrence University would give her full credit on this.
I think you missed a point, which is that it wasn’t Lawrence who came up with the idea and then executed it. It was Rachel Crowl, Lawrence’s media guru. (Disclaimer: yes, she’s a friend of mine, but it was a genius idea that’s being carried off really well by any measure)
As does Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.