Yes — a photo is essentially standard on a Belgian CV in 2026. Belgium is the most consistent country in Europe on this point: a CV without a photo is unusual enough that it can read as a formatting oversight rather than an intentional choice, across nearly every sector and company size.

Why the Photo Is So Standard in Belgium

Belgian professional convention treats the CV photo as a default expectation rather than an optional extra, and this holds consistently across Flemish- and French-speaking regions and across most sectors — corporate, retail, public sector, and SMEs alike. A recruiter reviewing a stack of applications will notice a missing photo before noticing anything else about the CV.

The standard that works:

  • Neutral, professional background
  • Chest-up framing, business attire
  • Natural expression, sharp focus, even lighting
  • Positioned at the top of the document, not inside a styled sidebar

The Finance and EU Institution Exception

The clearest exception in the Belgian market is competitive international finance and EU-institution roles based in Brussels. For investment banking, M&A, private equity, and similar roles, the Anglo-Saxon clean CV format — no photo — has become the norm regardless of the local convention, because the hiring teams for these roles are used to reviewing applications against an international standard, not a Belgian one specifically.

Outside these specific contexts, including a photo remains the safer default across the Belgian job market.

Placement That Doesn't Break ATS Parsing

As with any European CV, how the photo is placed matters as much as whether it's included. A photo embedded in a text box, a floating element, or a two-column layout with a sidebar can cause an Applicant Tracking System to misread the surrounding text — the parser reads image data instead of the content around it, and the rest of the CV can come out jumbled. Keep the photo in the header area of a single-column layout, and the rest of the document stays parseable.

Need a Belgian-standard CV with correct photo placement that stays ATS-safe? HAIRED's Resume Builder handles this by default — or see the full European CV photo guide for how the rules compare across other countries.