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No, in most cases you should not put a photo on a New Zealand CV. Kiwi employers generally expect your CV to focus on your skills, work experience, achievements, qualifications, work rights, and suitability for the role. A photo usually does not help them assess whether you can do the job, and in some cases it can distract from the information that actually matters.
As a recruiter, I would rather see a sharp, relevant CV than a polished headshot sitting at the top of the page trying to do work it should not be doing. A CV photo can create unnecessary bias, formatting issues, ATS problems, and awkward first impressions. Unless the employer specifically asks for a photo, leave it off.
For most job applications in New Zealand, your CV should not include a photo.
This applies across most permanent, fixed-term, contract, part-time, casual, graduate, professional, corporate, technical, trade, administration, healthcare, education, government, finance, IT, customer service, sales, logistics, engineering, and management roles.
A photo does not prove capability. It does not prove reliability. It does not prove cultural fit, communication style, commercial judgement, technical skill, leadership ability, or whether you can survive a Monday morning team meeting without making everyone’s life harder.
What a hiring manager needs to know is much more practical:
Can you do the work?
Have you done similar work before?
Are your skills relevant to the role requirements?
Do your achievements suggest you can deliver?
Are your work rights clear?
New Zealand hiring is generally more skills-led and suitability-led than image-led. Employers want to understand your experience, your communication style, your practical fit for the role, and whether you are likely to perform well in their environment.
A photo is not part of the usual screening logic.
When I screen a CV, I am not thinking, “Does this person have a nice photo?” I am thinking:
Does their recent experience match the role?
Are they operating at the right level?
Have they worked in a similar industry, environment, or customer base?
Do they show measurable outcomes?
Are there gaps I need to understand?
Are they likely to need sponsorship or employer support?
This is the part candidates often underestimate.
A photo gives the reader personal information before they have properly assessed your capability. That can create conscious or unconscious bias around age, appearance, ethnicity, gender presentation, cultural background, disability, perceived professionalism, or even personality.
A good employer should not judge candidates on those things. But recruitment is still carried out by humans, and humans are not always as objective as they think they are. Lovely in theory. Messy in practice.
Even when nobody intends to discriminate, a photo can change how the CV is read. The same career summary can be interpreted differently depending on the assumptions the reader has already made from the image.
That is not fair to the candidate, and it is not useful for the employer.
Some hiring teams are actively uncomfortable receiving CVs with photos because they want to reduce bias in the screening process. Internal recruiters, HR teams, government employers, larger corporates, and organisations with structured recruitment processes are often more cautious about anything that introduces unnecessary personal information.
In plain English: your photo can create problems your skills did not create.
Most recruiters will not reject a strong candidate purely because they included a photo. Let’s not be dramatic. If the experience is excellent, the photo will probably be ignored.
But it can still create small negative signals.
Depending on the role and industry, a photo may make the CV feel:
Outdated
Too personal
Overdesigned
Less aligned with New Zealand norms
More style-focused than substance-focused
Imported from a market where CV photos are common
Less suitable for ATS processing
There are a few situations where a photo may be requested or expected, but these are exceptions rather than the normal rule for a New Zealand CV.
A photo may be relevant when the employer specifically asks for one as part of the application process, usually for roles where appearance, presentation, modelling, performance, media, acting, brand representation, or public-facing visual work is directly relevant.
Even then, I would separate the photo from the main CV unless the employer clearly asks for it to be included on the CV itself.
For example, in some creative, entertainment, modelling, acting, or promotional roles, a headshot or portfolio may be part of the application. But that is not the same as saying every candidate should put a photo on a professional CV.
There is a difference between:
A role requiring a headshot because visual presentation is part of the job
A candidate adding a photo to a standard CV because they think it looks professional
Those are not the same thing.
If a job advert asks for a photo, follow the instruction carefully. But if it does not ask, do not assume adding one will make you more memorable. Memorable is not always good. Recruiters remember confusing CVs too.
The top of your New Zealand CV should make the recruiter’s job easier. It should quickly explain who you are professionally, what level you operate at, and why your background matches the role.
Instead of a photo, use the top section for information that helps screening.
A strong CV header usually includes:
Your full name
Phone number
Professional email address
City and country, such as Auckland, New Zealand
LinkedIn profile, if it is relevant and properly updated
Portfolio or website, only if relevant to the role
Work rights, if useful, such as New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, or open work visa
Some candidates ask, “But should I have a photo on LinkedIn?”
That is a different question.
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform. A clear, professional LinkedIn photo is normal there. It helps people recognise you, adds trust, and supports your professional presence. Your CV is different. It is an application document designed for screening, shortlisting, and hiring decisions.
A LinkedIn photo belongs on LinkedIn. It does not automatically belong on your CV.
If you include your LinkedIn profile on your CV, make sure the profile supports your application. A recruiter may click it, especially for professional, management, sales, marketing, technology, HR, recruitment, consulting, and client-facing roles.
Before you add the link, check:
Is your LinkedIn photo professional and current?
Does your headline match the type of role you want?
Does your experience align with your CV?
Are there unexplained differences in job titles or dates?
This is where the advice needs a bit more nuance.
In some countries, CV photos are normal. In others, they are discouraged. If you are applying for jobs in New Zealand from overseas, you should adapt your CV to New Zealand expectations.
That means removing the photo unless it has been specifically requested.
This is not about hiding who you are. It is about showing that you understand the local hiring market. New Zealand employers often look for signs that an international candidate understands local expectations, communication norms, and application standards.
A CV with a photo, date of birth, marital status, nationality, passport number, full address, and other personal details can make the application feel less tailored to New Zealand.
For international candidates, the more useful information is usually:
Your current location
Your right to work in New Zealand
Visa status, if relevant
Availability to relocate or start
Technically, yes. Strategically, not always.
A photo may make your CV visually stand out, but standing out is not the same as being shortlisted.
This is one of the biggest candidate misconceptions. Many people assume that if their CV looks different, it will perform better. But recruiters are not ranking CVs by decoration. They are assessing relevance.
A candidate stands out when their CV makes the match obvious.
That can happen through:
Strong recent experience
Clear achievements
Relevant industry exposure
Practical examples of responsibility
Evidence of progression
Strong alignment with the job advert
Employers often say they want someone “professional”, “polished”, “well presented”, or “a good fit”. Candidates sometimes interpret that as needing a CV photo.
Usually, that is not what the employer means.
When a hiring manager says they want someone professional, they usually mean:
Communicates clearly
Turns up prepared
Understands the role
Handles stakeholders appropriately
Represents the business well
Has good judgement
Can be trusted with customers, clients, systems, or responsibilities
Applicant tracking systems, or ATS platforms, are used by many employers and recruiters in New Zealand. Not every employer uses the same system, and not every system reads documents in the same way. But the safest CV format is still clean, simple, and text-based.
Photos can cause problems because they add unnecessary visual elements to the document. They may increase file size, interfere with parsing, distort formatting, or distract from the content.
The bigger issue is not always the photo itself. It is the template that usually comes with it.
Many photo-based CV templates include:
Two-column layouts
Icons instead of clear labels
Graphics and skill bars
Text boxes
Unusual fonts
Decorative headers
If your current CV has a photo, remove it unless there is a specific reason to keep it.
Then use the space to strengthen the content.
Replace the photo with a better top section:
Name and contact details
Location
LinkedIn profile, if useful
Work rights, if relevant
Targeted career summary
Key skills matched to the role
Clear recent work experience
Do not just delete the image and leave a strange blank space at the top. Rework the layout so the CV looks intentional and clean.
If you want your CV to feel polished, do not rely on a photo. Improve the substance and structure.
A professional New Zealand CV usually feels:
Clear
Relevant
Easy to scan
Achievement-led
Honest
Well organised
Tailored to the role
Appropriate for the level of the position
The most common mistake is assuming a photo makes the CV more personal. It might, but personal is not always better in hiring. Employers are not choosing a dinner guest. They are assessing risk, capability, fit, and value.
Another mistake is using a casual photo. Cropped wedding photos, selfies, holiday photos, car photos, party photos, and heavily filtered photos do not belong anywhere near a professional CV. I wish this did not need saying, but recruitment has taught me that many things need saying.
A third mistake is using a photo to compensate for weak content. If the career summary is vague, the achievements are missing, and the role relevance is unclear, the photo will not save the application.
A fourth mistake is copying a CV format from another country. What looks normal in one market can look unusual in New Zealand. If you are applying locally, your CV should feel local.
A fifth mistake is thinking that a good-looking CV is automatically a good CV. It is not. A visually polished CV with weak positioning is still weak. A simple CV with strong evidence will usually perform better.
This is the rule I come back to constantly.
Every part of your CV should earn its place.
Ask yourself:
Does this help the recruiter understand my suitability?
Does this help the hiring manager compare me fairly?
Does this reduce doubt?
Does this support the role I am applying for?
Would I want this information discussed during shortlisting?
A photo usually fails that test.
Your CV is not there to show your face. It is there to show your fit.
That does not mean your personality does not matter. It absolutely does. But personality is better shown through your communication, achievements, role choices, career story, interview answers, references, and professional presence.
A CV photo is a blunt tool. Good positioning is sharper.
For almost all New Zealand job applications, leave the photo off your CV.
Use the space for stronger information: a focused career summary, relevant key skills, clear work experience, achievements, qualifications, work rights, and practical evidence that you match the role.
Only include a photo if the employer specifically asks for one or the role genuinely requires visual presentation as part of the application, such as certain performance, modelling, media, or promotional roles.
If you are unsure, do not include it.
That is the safer, cleaner, more professional choice in the New Zealand job market.
A good CV should make the recruiter think, “This person fits the role. I can see why they should be considered.”
It should not make them think, “Interesting photo. Now where is the actual evidence?”
Written by Simar Malhi, a recruiter and headhunter with international recruitment experience. I write about CVs, job applications, hiring decisions, and the reality behind recruitment processes. My goal is to help candidates understand more honestly how employers, recruiters, and hiring managers actually select candidates.
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Create ResumeIs your experience easy to understand in a New Zealand context?
Does your CV make it easy to shortlist you?
A photo answers none of those questions.
This is why a photo on a CV often feels unnecessary in the New Zealand job market. It takes space from stronger information and can shift attention away from the evidence that should be carrying your application.
Does their CV explain their value clearly enough for a hiring manager?
A photo does not help with any of that. In fact, it can make the CV feel less aligned with local expectations, especially if the rest of the document already feels too designed, too personal, or too light on evidence.
This matters because New Zealand employers often make quick screening decisions. A recruiter may spend seconds deciding whether a CV deserves a deeper read. If the top third of the CV is taken up by a photo, decorative formatting, personal details, and vague statements, the candidate has wasted the most valuable real estate on the page.
The first page of your CV is not a scrapbook. It is your business case.
The last point matters. Many candidates use CV templates with photos, icons, columns, graphics, ratings, and design-heavy layouts because they look attractive on screen. The problem is that recruitment systems do not always love attractive. Sometimes they love boring, clean, readable text.
And honestly, boring but clear often wins.
If your CV has a photo and a fancy layout, but the recruiter cannot quickly find your recent job title, employer, location, dates, achievements, and relevant skills, you have made the screening process harder. That is not a power move.
A recruiter’s job is to assess fit quickly. Your job as a candidate is to make the right information easy to find.
Then follow with a focused career summary.
A good career summary is not a motivational quote wearing a blazer. It should be practical and specific.
Weak Example
“Hardworking and motivated professional looking for a challenging opportunity where I can grow and contribute to a dynamic team.”
This says almost nothing. It could belong to anyone applying for almost anything.
Good Example
“Customer operations coordinator with five years’ experience across high-volume service environments, scheduling, complaint resolution, reporting, and stakeholder communication. Confident working with internal teams, suppliers, and customers across fast-moving New Zealand operations.”
This gives the recruiter something to work with. It explains the level, function, environment, strengths, and local relevance.
That is far more valuable than a photo.
Does your profile strengthen your credibility?
One quiet recruiter reality: if your CV says one thing and LinkedIn says another, recruiters notice. Not always immediately, but eventually. And when dates, titles, or employers do not match, it creates doubt.
The photo is rarely the problem. Inconsistency is.
New Zealand equivalent qualifications, where helpful
Relevant local or international experience explained clearly
Industry terminology that New Zealand employers understand
If you are overseas and applying for a New Zealand role, do not use the CV format from your home country without adjusting it. That is one of the fastest ways to look like you have not understood the market.
Clear communication
Good structure
No unnecessary confusion
A photo is a weak differentiator because it does not prove suitability. It can make the CV more noticeable, but it may not make the candidate more credible.
In recruitment, the best kind of memorable is not “the one with the photo”. It is “the one whose experience fits the role and was easy to present to the hiring manager”.
That is the difference candidates need to understand.
Does not create unnecessary drama
When they say “well presented”, they are usually talking about interview presence, communication, and how the person represents themselves in a work setting. They are not usually asking for a headshot on page one of the CV.
When they say “good fit”, they often mean the candidate can work in their environment without creating friction. That includes communication style, pace, attitude, values, adaptability, and team fit.
A CV photo does not prove any of this.
A clear CV, however, can show judgement. And judgement is underrated.
Tiny margins
Important details placed in sidebars
These can look good to a human at first glance, but they can make the CV harder to read, search, parse, and compare.
A recruiter may still open the CV manually. But why make the process harder?
The best New Zealand CVs are usually not the prettiest. They are the clearest. They allow a recruiter to understand the candidate quickly and confidently.
That is the goal.
Also check whether your CV template is too visual. Removing the photo is helpful, but if the rest of the CV still has columns, icons, graphics, and vague content, you may not have solved the real problem.
The real question is not, “Does my CV look nice?”
The better question is, “Can a recruiter understand my relevance in under 30 seconds?”
That is the standard I would use.
Free from unnecessary personal details
For most candidates, the strongest improvements are simple.
Make your job titles clear. Add employer names and locations. Use month and year dates. Explain the scope of your role. Show outcomes where you can. Tailor the first page to the job advert. Remove generic claims. Use plain language. Keep formatting consistent.
The best CVs do not make the hiring manager work hard to understand the candidate. They reduce uncertainty.
That is the hidden job of a CV: reduce doubt.
A photo does not reduce doubt. Evidence does.
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