“Do managers rate LinkedIn photos differently than others?”

Here at Photofeeler, we sometimes get this question. How do the voting styles of workers and managers differ?

We decided to find out.

The Study

So how do you figure out — mathematically — how managers differ in their ratings of others? By sussing out correlations.

In other words, are the opinions of “regular” workers and managers as well-correlated as the opinions of two managers?

Here’s a helpful perspective: the users who are voting on you are not exactly the same people who will be judging your fitness for a job by your LinkedIn profile. Rather, the voters act as a proxy. You simply want a sample of opinions that correlate well with the opinions of the actual people who’ll be judging your profile in the “real world,” where the stakes are high. And that’s at the heart of this analysis.

Taking into account millions of votes on Photofeeler, here is what we found.

Conclusions

So essentially, a sample of random user votes is as good a predictor of managers’ opinions as a sample of managers’ votes. There is no difference between managers’ ratings and others’.

Notice in the chart below the precise correlations. Correlation is expressed as a number between -1 (being a perfect negative correlation) and 1 (being a perfect positive correlation).

Photofeeler is a tool for testing profile pics, as seen in Time, Forbes, The Today Show, and more. Know for certain how you’re coming across in pictures. It’s free to use here.