Should you put a photo on your CV?

Standard practice is to leave it off. Many employers reject photo CVs on sight to protect themselves from discrimination claims, so adding one isn't neutral — it costs you the application.

In Spain, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico a photo is customary and its absence gets noticed, particularly in customer-facing roles. No law requires it; the market simply assumes it.

In Germany a formal photo is still expected and well received. In France it depends on the sector and is fading. If unsure, look at three of the employer's own adverts and team pages: if their profiles carry photos, yours fits.

Plain light background, front lighting, clothing matched to the role, head and shoulders filling most of the frame, neutral expression or slight smile. No cropped selfies, sunglasses, wedding photos or a blurred second person beside you.

Top of the page, in the header or side column, with your contact details as text beside it and never inside the image. Screening software reads nothing contained in an image file.

Hold a photo version for Spain and Latin America and a no-photo version for English-speaking markets and blind recruitment. Same content — you only swap one header block.

This isn't a matter of taste, it's a matter of market. In Spain, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico a photo is customary and its absence gets noticed, especially in customer-facing roles. In Germany a very formal photo is still expected. In France it depends on the sector and is fading.

In the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada and Australia the practice is to leave it off: many employers reject photo CVs on sight to protect themselves from bias claims, and blind recruitment systems strip the image or refuse the file. There, including one isn't neutral — it costs you the application.

If you include one, make it work for you. Plain light background, front lighting with no hard shadows, head and shoulders filling most of the frame, neutral expression or slight smile, and clothing matched to the role you're applying for — not to a family wedding. Portrait or square crop, cut at chest height.

Technically: at least 600 pixels wide so it doesn't pixelate in print, compressed so the PDF stays under two megabytes, and free of filters and frames. No cropped selfies, sunglasses, cars in the background, blurred second people, or pictures from ten years ago.

The photo belongs at the top, in the header or side column, with your contact details as text beside it and never inside the image: screening software extracts not one word from an image file, so a name or phone number baked into the photo design is the same as not having written it.

The practical approach is to keep two versions of the same content: with a photo for Spain and Latin America, without one for English-speaking markets and blind recruitment. Only a header block changes, and you'll never send the wrong file in a rush on a Sunday night.