Healthcare IT Today

Two Strategies for Combating Ageism on Your LinkedIn Profile Photo

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by Joshua Waldman in Job Seekers, LinkedIn, Personal Branding, Social Media

Speaking at an Engineering Symposium in Portland, I had two conversations back-to-back that were exactly the same.

Now, I wasn’t surprised, when speaking to a group of 100 IT engineers, that ALL of them were much smarter than me.  I also wasn’t surprised to see many baby-boomers in the audience with tons of Healthcare experience. So the conversations I had after my presentation were expected.

Each person who came up to me afterward expressed some concerns about using a photograph on their LinkedIn profile. Especially since “their hair is graying.”

What are the social/employment implications of being passed over based on your age?

Here was my response, and for older (baby-boomer and older generations) readers, you might find some value in these two strategies.

First, a disclaimer. I’m not condoning ageism. It’s a sad fact that Ageism and any other kind of ‘-ism’ exists. My uncle had to lie for years about his age just for the privilege of keeping his job in the dry goods industry. We expect some kind of litigation in the near future about this, but so far, there is no precedent.

Therefore, this post is not going to focus on these social implications. I will focus on what you can do about it.

Profile Photo Strategy 1: Reframe Age

In many cultures, age carries with it a sense of wisdom, social status and authority. Many Asian and Latin American cultures honor and respect their older generations.

One way to combat a negative perception of age is to simply reframe it. Let’s start playing with new words. Remove “Experienced” from your vocabulary and find other words with new meaning, such as: proven, reliable, wise, leadership, excited about change. Try removing any experiences from your profile that are older than 20 years ago.

Remember that many people simply mirror your own attitudes and beliefs. If you can see your age as an asset and manifest that belief in your profile and online, chances are you’ll be perceived in that way as well.

So strategy 1 is to leave your photo alone, but reframe your brand into one where age is couched in age-positive words.

Strategy 2: Youth by Association

The second strategy is to take another look at your photo and use a marketing strategy called, “Brand Association.”

Brand Association is when you leverage the brand message of something else, and through proximity, make those characteristics apply to you. Marketing people do this all the time.

Ever notice how some websites have a “featured on” and then a logo of some news network? They are associating the authority of a news network to their brand.

We will use a similar approach for your profile photo. If you want to stay authentic and not Photoshop on 20 years of youth (just to get stares when you show up for the interview), then this is the best approach.

Let’s think of some activities or images that have “youth” associated with them…Perhaps you have a hobby that is youthful, like hiking, biking or indoor soccer. Perhaps there is a place you like to visit that has youth associated with it, like Disney Land, water parks, a sporting event. The brainstorm will be unique to everyone.

Now you should find a way of incorporating those images into your profile photo.

Make a Splash

By the way, this advice isn’t just for the older generations combating ageism. The same strategies can be employed by the younger generations facing the same challenge.

The irony was that just after my two conversations with two baby-boomers, I had a Gen Y engineer come up to me and ask about the same exact issue. “I’m younger than the others,”  he said, “but I’m just as qualified. What can I do to combat Ageism?”
As always, your comments are welcome.

Tags: ageism, Joshua Waldman, LinkedIn tips, profile photo