The Perfect Professional Headshot Is Worth $1,000, and Maybe Even a Job

Professionals pursuing that 'just right' look for LinkedIn profiles and resumes are tapping high-end headshot photographers who say they can help clients look better, feel better -- and boost their careers. From a report: Nailing your professional headshot seems harder and more clutch than ever at a time of record job changes and on-screen first impressions. The buttoned-up and made-up looks that once dominated business directories and professional profiles now seem stuffy in the work-from-anywhere era. Selfies are free, but some people chasing that just-so photo for their LinkedIn profile are paying $1,000 or more for headshots. Their quests are fueling a cottage industry of headshot photographers who offer facial-expression coaching and promise to help even the most insecure subjects look and feel great. "I'm not a photographer per se," says Peter Hurley, who charges $1,500 for a headshot session and $300 for each image his clients keep. "I consider myself a facial conveyance strategist." His go-to move is telling people to "squinch," by which he means raise the lower eyelids -- just a tad -- in a modified squint. Photographers hoping to mimic his techniques can pay $1,800 for one of his weekend workshops. Mr. Hurley started taking headshots about 20 years ago, having learned the basics of photography while modeling to fund his pursuit of an Olympic sailing berth. (He didn't make the five-ring regatta, but he had a hell of a six-pack.) His early clients were fellow models and actors. Now, shooting at studios in New York and Los Angeles, he estimates 90% are business types tired of their bland, yearbook-style profile pics and willing to shell out to stand out. In certain ways, the importance of a good headshot is measurable. LinkedIn, which enjoys more traffic when profiles are more engaging, reports that bios with headshots get 21 times more views than those without, and users receive nine times more connection requests when they include pictures of themselves. Headshots don't help everyone equally, says executive recruiter Martha Heller. She notes that the leaders of a company trying to fill a key position may have predetermined notions of what the ideal candidate should look like. Historically, they've often pictured a white man, though clients are increasingly seeking people who will diversify the senior ranks, she says. In any case, an applicant's odds of receiving an offer can be diminished by a headshot that doesn't match the picture in the boss's mind. Catalant, an online marketplace for independent consultants, says freelancers with headshots in their profiles are hired more often, but some businesses screen out names and photos because race and gender markers can play into unconscious biases and disadvantage certain candidates.

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