Resume photo: should you add one? A country-by-country guide

Few resume questions depend as much on geography as this one. In some countries recruiters expect a photo. In others, employers avoid photos because of anti-discrimination law, and a photo makes your application look like it was written for somewhere else.

The short answer

• Leave it out in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
• Usually include it in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, much of Eastern and Southern Europe, the Middle East and large parts of Asia.
• Either is fine in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium or the Nordics. Look at what the company and industry do, and follow the job ad.

When an ad says “no photo, please” or “application with photo”, follow it. The ad always beats any general rule, including the ones on this page.

Country notes

Country / region	Photo?	Notes
United States, Canada	No	Employers avoid photos because of anti-discrimination laws.
United Kingdom, Ireland	No	Same reason; a photo can look out of place.
Australia, New Zealand	No	Uncommon in mainstream applications.
Germany, Austria, Switzerland	Usually yes	A professional “Bewerbungsfoto” is common but optional; follow the ad.
Turkey	Yes	A professional photo is expected by most employers.
France, Spain, Italy, Portugal	Often	Common, especially in smaller companies; international firms care less.
Netherlands, Belgium, Nordics	Optional	Many people include one; follow the company culture.
Gulf states, Middle East	Yes	Usually expected, sometimes with additional personal details.
China, Japan, South Korea	Yes	Photos are standard on many application formats.

Treat the table as common practice. The company and the ad have the final say, and for international companies and tech roles a resume without a photo is almost always acceptable.

The personal details that travel with the photo

Photo norms usually come with norms about other personal details. Where a photo is expected, recruiters often expect a few more facts about you; where it is avoided, they would rather not see those facts either.

Detail	US, UK, Canada, Australia	Germany, Austria, Switzerland	Turkey	Gulf states
Date of birth	Leave out	Common, increasingly optional	Common	Common
Nationality	Leave out unless work authorisation is relevant	Add if you are not a local citizen and it affects the right to work	Usually not needed for Turkish citizens	Common, often with visa status
Marital status	Leave out	Less common than it was	Often included, optional	Often included
Military service status	Not used	Not used	Common for male candidates	Varies
Driver’s license	Only if the job needs it	Often listed	Often listed	Often listed

In English-speaking countries, the safest approach is to leave personal details out completely, except where the job requires them. If you need sponsorship or already have the right to work, one line about it is more useful than your nationality. Put it under your contact details or at the end of the summary:

Full right to work in the UK

Authorized to work in the US for any employer

Will require visa sponsorship to work in Canada

Write the one that is true for you. If you will need sponsorship, saying so up front saves both sides a wasted interview round.

If you write a resume for one country and later apply in another, check these lines as well as the photo. A US resume with a date of birth and marital status looks just as odd as a German one without a photo.

The same header, two countries

Here is one fictional candidate’s header, written for an employer in Germany and then for one in the UK:

For Germany: [photo] · Elif Demir · Data Analyst · Hamburg · +49 151 0000000 · elif.demir@example.com · Born 14 May 1996 · Turkish citizen, EU Blue Card

For the UK: Elif Demir · Data Analyst · London · +44 7700 900000 · elif.demir@example.com · linkedin.com/in/elifdemir · Will require visa sponsorship

The UK version drops the photo and the date of birth, and turns nationality into the one fact the employer needs: whether it has to sponsor a visa.

If you include a photo

Use a recent photo, taken within the last couple of years, that looks like you do today. Frame it head and shoulders, facing the camera or turned slightly, with your face filling most of the frame. A plain wall in light grey or off-white makes the best background, and daylight from a window beats a flash or a ceiling light.

Dress as you would for an interview in that industry: a blazer for banking or law, a plain shirt or top for most office and tech roles. A slight smile reads as friendly without trying too hard.

Avoid selfies, holiday photos, cropped group shots, sunglasses, heavy filters and busy backgrounds. A phone photo of a printed passport picture, with glare on it, is a common mistake too.

How to take a good photo at home

You do not need a studio. A phone and a window are enough for most people.

1. Find the light. Stand facing a window during the day, so the light falls evenly on your face. Avoid direct midday sun; overcast daylight is ideal.
2. Pick the background. A plain wall one or two steps behind you. Standing too close to the wall creates a hard shadow.
3. Set up the camera. Use the back camera rather than the front one; it usually has better quality. Put the phone at eye level on a shelf or stack of books, or ask someone to hold it.
4. Keep your distance. Stand about one and a half to two metres away and zoom in slightly, or crop later. Phones held close to the face distort features, which is why arm’s-length selfies rarely look professional.
5. Use the timer or burst mode and take a lot of shots. Relax your shoulders, look into the lens and breathe out before each one.
6. Edit lightly. Straighten, crop and adjust brightness if needed. Skip beauty filters and heavy retouching; the person who meets you at the interview should match the photo.

If you go to a photographer instead, ask for the digital file at full resolution. A scan of a small print is rarely sharp enough.

Photo specifications

• Crop: head and top of the shoulders. A square or a slightly taller portrait (around 3:4) works for most templates.
• Size on the page: small and tidy, roughly 3 to 4 cm wide, at the top of the page or the sidebar.
• Resolution: start from a sharp original. Something around 600 pixels or more on the short side keeps the photo crisp when printed at that size.
• File: JPG or PNG. Avoid screenshots of photos.
• Shape: circle, rounded square or square. Choose one that fits the template and keep it consistent with your cover letter.

Photo mistakes recruiters notice

What they see	The fix
A photo on a resume sent to a US or UK employer	Remove it, and remove the date of birth and marital status with it
A cropped wedding or holiday photo, with someone’s shoulder at the edge	Take a new one against a plain wall; it takes ten minutes
A photo from ten years ago	Use one that matches how you look at the interview
A dark, grainy image	Retake it facing a window in daylight
The photo is larger than your name	Keep it about 3 to 4 cm wide; your name is the headline

When the ad says “no photo”

Some employers ask for applications without photos, and sometimes without names or ages, to reduce bias in screening. Respect it. Sending a photo anyway suggests you did not read the ad. If you are using one resume for several applications, keep a version without a photo ready.

International companies in photo-norm countries

Applying to the Berlin office of an American company, or to a multinational in Istanbul? A few signals help you decide:

• The language of the ad. An ad written in English for an international team often follows international norms, where a photo is optional.
• The careers page. Some companies state their policy, or say they prefer applications without photos.
• The role. Tech, research and international roles care least. Client-facing roles in traditional sectors are more likely to expect a photo.

When the signals are mixed, leaving the photo out is rarely held against you at an international company, while an unprofessional photo can be.

FAQ

Can I use my LinkedIn photo?

Yes, if it meets the same standards: recent, head and shoulders, plain background. Many people use one good photo for both, which also makes you easy to recognise.

Black and white or colour?

Either. Colour is more common today. Black and white can look elegant on a minimal template, but avoid it if the photo is dark or low contrast.

Does a photo cause problems with applicant tracking systems?

The parser ignores the image and reads the text around it. It does not break the rest of the file. See our ATS resume guide for the things that do.

Should the photo go on the cover letter too?

No. One photo, on the resume, is enough. Keep the same header design on both documents if you can.

Is a CV different from a resume when it comes to photos?

The rules follow the country, not the name of the document. Our guide to resume vs CV explains where each term is used and what readers expect.

How AlderCV handles photos

AlderCV suggests a default based on your region (photo on for countries like Germany and Turkey, off for the US and UK), and you can switch it on or off for any template in one click. Photos are cropped in the browser, stored privately and embedded directly in your PDF. Templates such as Atlas, Harbor and Solstice have a dedicated photo spot; single-column templates like Linden look complete without one.

Applying to two different countries? Duplicate your resume and keep one version with a photo and one without.

Read next: How to write a resume that gets read.