Should You Put a Photo on Your CV? (A Region-by-Region Answer)
Few CV questions divide opinion like the photo. The truth is there's no universal rule — it depends on the country, the industry, and sometimes the specific employer. Here's how to decide, and how to get it right if you include one.
The general default: leave it off
In most cases, no photo is the safer choice. In the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, a photo can actually work against you — many employers remove photos to avoid bias claims, and some ATS software mishandles images. Unless there's a clear reason to include one, skip it.
When a photo is expected
Across much of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe, a professional headshot is common and often expected. It's also appropriate for roles where appearance is part of the job — presenting, hospitality, acting, modelling — or when the employer explicitly asks for one.
If you're applying within the Gulf or MENA region, including a clean professional photo is usually fine and sometimes the norm.
If you include one, do it properly
Use a high-resolution headshot showing your head and shoulders against a plain, neutral background. Dress as you would for the job, look approachable, and crop tightly. Avoid selfies, holiday photos, filters, busy backgrounds, and anything low-quality — a bad photo is worse than none.
Watch the ATS trade-off
Images can confuse applicant tracking systems and waste prime space at the top of the page. If you include a photo, keep the rest of the layout simple and machine-readable, and make sure your name and contact details are plain text, not embedded in the image.
Switch it on or off in write.cv
write.cv lets you toggle a photo per template, so you can keep one version with a headshot for regional applications and one clean, photo-free version for ATS-heavy or Western employers — same content, two exports.