You have no job title yet, so your photo is doing most of the talking. This page sorts the photos students usually have, from graduation shots to selfies, into those that work and those that do not.
Create your first photo free
Use a clear, recent photo of only you, cropped to your head and shoulders, in front of a plain background. That can be a friend's phone portrait, a free university session or an AI portrait, as long as it looks like you.
LinkedIn says members with a photo get up to 21 times more profile views and up to 36 times more messages. That is LinkedIn's own figure for members in general, not a promise about your profile.
A profile with years of experience can lean on job titles. A first-year or final-year student has a short education section and a headline that says "student", so the photo is the one element a recruiter or an alumnus can judge in a second. Warwick Business School's careers blog puts the photo first, ahead of the headline.
The standard is lower than many students fear. LinkedIn's student guide says the picture does not need to be professional, only that people can recognise you and that it looks like a real profile. It asks you to keep pets and friends out of the frame.
This table covers the photos that turn up on camera rolls and what each does at thumbnail size.
| Photo | Use it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Graduation photo, cropped | Stopgap | Fine if recent and cropped to head and shoulders. The gown dates it within a year. |
| Phone selfie in your room | Only if staged | Tidy the background first. A bookshelf, laundry or a poster behind you is what readers notice. |
| Photo cropped from a night out | No | Other people's shoulders, a glass or a flash give the wrong first impression. |
| Passport or ID photo | Rarely | Flat light and a blank stare. Readable, but it does nothing for a networking profile. |
| Friend-taken phone portrait | Yes | Window light, plain wall, camera at eye level. Free and usually good enough. |
| Free university headshot session | Yes | Professionally lit and costs nothing, but the dates are short and slots can fill up. |
| AI portrait from your own selfies | Yes, with a check | Useful when no session is near. Compare it with a mirror before it goes live. |
The ratings are our own reading of the careers advice cited below, not a recruiter survey. Where careers teams disagree, as on selfies, the table follows the stricter view.
Some UK universities run headshot sessions for students and recent alumni. Birkbeck, University of London, held a drop-in on 16 June 2025 and listed a further session for National Careers Week in March 2026. The University of Liverpool offered a free photo in its Career Studio on 18 March 2025, booked through Handshake, with a LinkedIn profile review from a career coach.
These sessions are short and rarely repeat on demand, so check your careers service page at the start of term. If nothing is scheduled, the second free route is a phone portrait. Northampton's careers blog suggests propping the phone up and standing against a plain coloured wall, and Warwick Business School says a phone camera gives a good enough image as long as it is not pixelated.
Our guides on taking a headshot at home and on what to wear for a headshot cover light, distance and colours in more detail.
Our view, not a rule from any recruiter: a recent one cropped to your head and shoulders is acceptable, but the gown and the university backdrop place you at the start of your career for a long time.
A LinkedIn photo is separate from the photo question on a CV. UK careers services advise against putting a photograph on a UK CV unless a form asks for one, and our CV photo page explains why. LinkedIn is where your face belongs.
Medical students applying for residency have their own conventions, covered on our residency headshot page.
Profilfoto KI creates realistic portraits from your own selfies in a chosen style, with no studio appointment. For this page the relevant styles are LinkedIn Modern and Business Studio, and the paid packs add Academic. You select between one and ten of your own selfies for each generation.
The first photo is free and carries a watermark, so you can check the likeness before buying. Packs are one-off payments with no subscription: 2 photos for 4.99 EUR, 12 photos for 29 EUR and 40 photos for 79 EUR. Uploaded selfies are stored in Frankfurt and deleted automatically after 90 days at the latest.
If your university runs a free session this term, that costs nothing and a human photographer will light you well. A friend with a phone also works. Profilfoto KI is for the weeks when neither is available and an application deadline is. The result is not an official ID photo.
Try the free watermarked photoLinkedIn's own student advice says the photo does not have to be professional and that a phone selfie will do. Northampton's careers blog takes a stricter line and asks students to skip the favourite selfie. A selfie works if it is a plain, well-lit head-and-shoulders shot taken by you at arm's length or on a propped phone, with nothing busy behind you.
Yes, if it is recent, shows only you and is cropped to your head and shoulders. Treat it as a stopgap and replace it once you have a plainer portrait.
No. Warwick Business School's advice is business-style clothing and no sunglasses, while Northampton says a plain black or white T-shirt will do. Dress for the sector you want to enter.
Some university careers teams run free sessions. Birkbeck ran drop-in headshots in June 2025, and Liverpool offered bookable slots in its Career Studio in March 2025. These are short windows, so ask your careers service when the next one is.
It is acceptable when it looks like you and nothing in it is invented. Check the free watermarked photo against a mirror before paying, and do not use an image that changes your face, age or build.