No: in the US, don't put a photo on your resume. The American resume is photo-free by convention, and many employers will set aside a resume that includes one before anyone reads it. The exceptions are roles where appearance is part of the job, like acting and modeling.
That's the opposite of much of Europe and Latin America, where a photo is common. If you've moved or are applying from abroad, it's one of the first things to change.
Why do US employers avoid photos on resumes?
US federal law bars hiring decisions based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act) and on age for workers 40 and over. A photo reveals several of those characteristics at a glance.
So the risk sits with the employer: if a rejected candidate's resume had a photo, it's harder for the company to show that appearance played no part. Many HR teams and recruiters prefer simply not to see photos, and some screen out resumes that include one.
The same logic applies to other personal details. On a US resume, also leave out your date of birth, age, marital status, religion and nationality.
When is a headshot expected on a US resume?
Only where appearance is a legitimate part of the job:
- Acting and performing arts: a professional headshot is standard, usually as a separate file.
- Modeling: a portfolio or comp card, not a photo on the resume.
- Some on-camera roles (TV presenting, some media jobs): follow the employer's instructions.
For everything else, including customer-facing jobs, sales and hospitality, leave it off.
Does a photo on your resume hurt you with ATS software?
The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) doesn't read the image. It ignores it. The damage is to what's around it: photos usually sit in a sidebar, a table or a text box, and those layouts make the ATS read your text out of order.
In HAIRED's analysis of 10,000 CVs, 29% had embedded images or graphics, and PDFs with columns or tables failed to parse in 52% of cases, against 4% for a simple single-column file (see the study).
What should you put at the top of a US resume instead?
Use the space a photo would take for things that get you interviews:
Jane Doe
Austin, TX | (512) 555-0123 | jane.doe@email.com | linkedin.com/in/janedoe
Then a 2-3 line summary with your target role, years of experience and one measurable achievement. Your LinkedIn profile is where your photo belongs: recruiters will look you up there, and a profile with a photo gets more attention than one without.
How do you check that your resume is US-ready?
Before you apply, check that it has:
- No photo, date of birth, marital status or nationality.
- One column, standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills).
- One page if you have under ~10 years of experience, two if more.
- Keywords from the job posting, written the same way.
HAIRED's free ATS resume checker scores your resume from 0 to 100 in about 30 seconds and lists what to fix, no account needed. If you need to rebuild it, the resume builder has single-column, photo-free templates.
