At Gembridge, we receive and review so many applications, some with and many without photos. Generally, I prefer no. If yes, it must be appropriate and professional. Your application is the key to the door to secure an interview, usually in person or virtually, so you want the focus to be on what you can offer – your skills, qualifications, experience and success. Not your appearance, unless of course, you are a fashion model.
Recruiters and Hiring Managers assess for merit and match against a position description, so a photo is certainly not required. Similar to removing your age, marital status, race and religion to avoid discrimination, an image can fall into this same category of things to leave out. If you believe you absolutely must include a photo, I recommend adding a photo to your LinkedIn profile, and simply including the link.
This question receives a mixed response, so we sought an answer via LinkedIn Poll. Thanks for those who voted. If we use “majority rules” as the decider, the answer is clearly NO.