In the middle of my 17 years working remotely at a tech megacorp, I moved to a product manager role from a custom engineering manager. A couple of years in to my PM role I was feeling stagnant in my career so I purposefully got a headshot done wearing a sport coat and tie to replace my younger me ponytail headshot on our intranet directory.
The first change I noticed was a major difference in the respect and deference I received on calls. Over the next couple of years, I was promoted twice and was offered several lateral move opportunities.
Obviously, some of this change was due to my intentionality, but I attribute the headshot very highly.
Some important factors: I worked with a large number of salespeople in a highly matrixed salesforce. I worked on large global teams and people from some geos were more obvious in their deference. I am of above average attractiveness.
Just did one of these last week. First issue was that I am quite tall and the photographer was quite short, but he didn't have a step (presumably for health and safety reasons), so to get the angle right he asked me to squat a little. Second issue is that he asked me to take off my glasses to avoid any reflection, but my antique glasses are an important part of my appearance (early-20th-century intelligentsia?). Third issue is that he asked me to show my teeth, but I never show my teeth when smiling (thanks to the NHS I have what the Americans call "British teeth"), so not knowing quite how to show my teeth when smiling I think I ended up baring my teeth instead. The overall effect being an uncomfortable unfamiliar unseeing grimace. I'm hoping great things will come of it.
"British teeth": I thought those were a thing of the past.
They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson's brilliant modernizing of WW I film footage, has some really shocking teeth. This was before NHS, obviously.
I could never manage to smile with my teeth showing, normally, but I got a guy to film me with my dog, and then it was easy. Doesn't help for the corporate headshot, though.
Pity the executives who have been forced to stand side on to the camera, tilt their heads slightly like a giant parrot, fold their arms and told to look natural. If you ever saw someone standing like this in real life, you would think “better cross to the other side”, not “I bet that person is great at creating shareholder value.”
Hilariously true.
Especially the crossed arms photo. "I am executive and I mean business!"
The CEO for the first company I ever worked for got really bad advice in this regard. In his head shot he tilted his head to the side, which is directly contrary to contemporary advice for male head shots. It made him look distinctly feminine, and playful instead of serious.
Not related to headshot per se, but I also noticed that when the C-level folks are talking on camera or on stage, they do this weird hand pose in which their fingers are touching in almost dove-tail fashion (e.g., https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107010033-166673005906...). I wonder if it's taught to them by professional public speaking trainers.
> I wonder if it's taught to them by professional public speaking trainers.
Totally is, as part of "use your hands more... but not too much more... but also don't rest them at your sides!" stuff. The steeple thing is an improvement for people who aren't good at public speaking, but awkward as hell compared to someone who's actually-good (they may do it too, but you won't notice because it'll seem natural, and they probably won't do it nearly as much)
At this point it may actually have come around such that the awkward-steeple is a desirable signal of some kind, just because every corporations seems to have done the exact same training, so that doing it, even awkwardly, gives off a "this is official" vibe.
Thinking about when I'm on stage, I think it's, in part, a way to calm the motion of your hands without having your arms at your sides which can feel unnatural and make you look stiff.
Salespeople are taught that if the sales prospect makes a pejorative or other remark that absolutely must be be overcome to close a sale, they should steeple their hands, engage the prospect, but never overtly disagree or argue.
Definitely reminds me of the clip from 30 Rock where Jack Donaghy has to shoot a promotional clip and doesn’t know what to do with his hands, so by the end of the session he is holding a coffee mug in each hand and still spiraling out of control.
I realize this is a humor article, but I don't think it's very funny (except perhaps the part about business stock photos). I mean, I have none of these feelings that corporate headshots make subjects "end up looking like well-dressed hostages".
They're just photos of people in suits. What would you expect them to look like? You could write this same article about virtually any photographic portraits of humans. Just feels like an author trying to be "edgy" by blowing up his own preconceived notions in a way that doesn't reflect reality.
I have always wanted to hire a diverse bunch of attractive people who would appear in corporate stock photos, dress them up in suits, and photograph them kicking each other's asses.
If I ever work in a place that needs me to have a headshot, I'm just gonna mash thispersondoesnotexist.com until I find somebody who looks vaguely like me.
The reality is you need a headshot for a lot of roles and tasks. You may not do those things like keynoting at events but some do.
By all means, actively resist anything that requires a headshot. But be aware that will tend to consign you to the realm of interchangeable backroom tech types. Some are, of course, good enough that they manage anyway but it's a higher bar.
Curious if any software engineers here had a corporate headshot done and then immediately experienced a major upgrade in their careers or pay. I'm always on the lookout for low hanging fruit.
On the first team I work on, we had a guy who had a very serious headshot. Apparently the people at the security desk that day didn't know what they were doing and took so long he was going to be late to an important meeting. It ended up looking like a mugshot. Every time someone new joined, we had to tell them he was actually a nice guy and explain the "mugshot". A few people over the years admitted that they were intimidated by that photo. Funny stuff.
We have to take pictures for credentials at my place of work. I swear I look like I'm going to murder a person in it. Either I'm smiling too late or not long enough or something, but every time I go to get a new picture, I look angry in it.
> Do an image search for the word “business” or “manager”, and what comes back? Nothing that remotely resembles business or managers.
I would first have to know what my manager does before I could understand if there's resemblance.
Joking aside, this article would've been a hit in the between time of IRC and Slack. Before then I only knew people by their handle or avatars. While I get the author's dislike for headshots, they have been a social norm for what feels like more than a decade now.
Very rarely are people forced into these things. Executives and those who want to get ahead know that a high quality headshot is a differentiating factor. A leader who has an approachable headshot might rate better than a default avatar. Although the latter could be the better overall leader.
Many things in my career took off after I focused on my personal brand including these cursed headshots. I wouldn't discount it like the author tries to do.
This is actually one of the use cases I had in mind for PhotoPop haha. You can add your company's primary color as background and get head shots for your team. Cringe perhaps but it does look nice and professional.
Corporate headshots feel a bit like going to a lousy used car dealership. The guy at the dealership has a pinky ring, a fake tan, hair gel, and some very loud suit. Maybe a diamond earring as well. It’s a stereotype because it’s seen so often. But who does it impress? It must impress some folks or else it would die out.
Signaling. He’s signaling, I’m friendly, competent, and dumb. Then he gets you for the tire warranty at signing. All customers want to, must, feel superior to auto salespeople. (Who are doing $50k deals on a daily basis.) They can figure out if you’re a cash customer (unfavorable to them, must get a higher price) even if you’re trying to hide the fact.
Inside Google, there was this weird semi-status-symbol thing where headshots had a colored gradient directory if you were an "important" person and a plain background for most people. Anyone know if this is still at thing at Google?
The "reasoning" on display in TFA, and the citation of a dubious study suggesting a minute-but-measurable increase in Something, makes me think of the "Tory power stance" [0][1]. If it doesn't work or look good but everybody thinks it works and looks good, does it really not work nor look good?
[+] [-] kejaed|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wintermutestwin|3 years ago|reply
In the middle of my 17 years working remotely at a tech megacorp, I moved to a product manager role from a custom engineering manager. A couple of years in to my PM role I was feeling stagnant in my career so I purposefully got a headshot done wearing a sport coat and tie to replace my younger me ponytail headshot on our intranet directory.
The first change I noticed was a major difference in the respect and deference I received on calls. Over the next couple of years, I was promoted twice and was offered several lateral move opportunities.
Obviously, some of this change was due to my intentionality, but I attribute the headshot very highly.
Some important factors: I worked with a large number of salespeople in a highly matrixed salesforce. I worked on large global teams and people from some geos were more obvious in their deference. I am of above average attractiveness.
[+] [-] avgcorrection|3 years ago|reply
Greybeard things.
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] moomoo11|3 years ago|reply
It should get more and more ridiculous the higher the level.
[+] [-] kingforaday|3 years ago|reply
Credit: Aziz Ansari from Parks and Rec
[+] [-] Buttons840|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] madcow2011|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] slyall|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] e1ghtSpace|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] the_doctah|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m-i-l|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] luxpir|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] omoikane|3 years ago|reply
A different technique would have been to ask you to remove the lenses from your glasses and let you keep the frame on.
[+] [-] AlbertCory|3 years ago|reply
They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson's brilliant modernizing of WW I film footage, has some really shocking teeth. This was before NHS, obviously.
I could never manage to smile with my teeth showing, normally, but I got a guy to film me with my dog, and then it was easy. Doesn't help for the corporate headshot, though.
[+] [-] RobotToaster|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blantonl|3 years ago|reply
Hilariously true.
Especially the crossed arms photo. "I am executive and I mean business!"
[+] [-] rootusrootus|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coev|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] some_furry|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] programmertote|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yamtaddle|3 years ago|reply
Totally is, as part of "use your hands more... but not too much more... but also don't rest them at your sides!" stuff. The steeple thing is an improvement for people who aren't good at public speaking, but awkward as hell compared to someone who's actually-good (they may do it too, but you won't notice because it'll seem natural, and they probably won't do it nearly as much)
At this point it may actually have come around such that the awkward-steeple is a desirable signal of some kind, just because every corporations seems to have done the exact same training, so that doing it, even awkwardly, gives off a "this is official" vibe.
[+] [-] ghaff|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yabones|3 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkel-Raute
[+] [-] aj7|3 years ago|reply
Salespeople are taught that if the sales prospect makes a pejorative or other remark that absolutely must be be overcome to close a sale, they should steeple their hands, engage the prospect, but never overtly disagree or argue.
https://www.psychmechanics.com/body-language-steepling-hands...
[+] [-] flir|3 years ago|reply
It's called chironomia and it has a very long history - there are even dictionaries of gesture, with systems of notation.
[+] [-] navbaker|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stcroixx|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Izkata|3 years ago|reply
Kind of a "you shouldn't trust me" pose...
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] comicjk|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hn_throwaway_99|3 years ago|reply
They're just photos of people in suits. What would you expect them to look like? You could write this same article about virtually any photographic portraits of humans. Just feels like an author trying to be "edgy" by blowing up his own preconceived notions in a way that doesn't reflect reality.
[+] [-] teddyh|3 years ago|reply
See also: geography articles without maps: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30331839#30349455
[+] [-] xg15|3 years ago|reply
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/59141243346687544...
[+] [-] senthil_rajasek|3 years ago|reply
Since I am also a standup comic, I know that headshots are a very powerful personal branding tool.
[+] [-] PaulHoule|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kevinventullo|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] glonq|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ghaff|3 years ago|reply
By all means, actively resist anything that requires a headshot. But be aware that will tend to consign you to the realm of interchangeable backroom tech types. Some are, of course, good enough that they manage anyway but it's a higher bar.
[+] [-] nsxwolf|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] giantg2|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bena|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thenerdhead|3 years ago|reply
I would first have to know what my manager does before I could understand if there's resemblance.
Joking aside, this article would've been a hit in the between time of IRC and Slack. Before then I only knew people by their handle or avatars. While I get the author's dislike for headshots, they have been a social norm for what feels like more than a decade now.
Very rarely are people forced into these things. Executives and those who want to get ahead know that a high quality headshot is a differentiating factor. A leader who has an approachable headshot might rate better than a default avatar. Although the latter could be the better overall leader.
Many things in my career took off after I focused on my personal brand including these cursed headshots. I wouldn't discount it like the author tries to do.
[+] [-] bilater|3 years ago|reply
https://photopop.vercel.app/
[+] [-] everdrive|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aj7|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kens|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philsnow|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] revolvingocelot|3 years ago|reply
[0] https://www.google.com/search?q=tory+power+stance
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_posing
[+] [-] andyish|3 years ago|reply