Two Strategies for Combating Ageism on Your LinkedIn Profile Photo - CareerEnlightenment.com

Strategy 2: Youth by AssociationThe second strategy is to take another look at your photo and use a marketing strategy called Brand Association.Brand Association is leveraging the brand message of something else, and through proximity, making those characteristics apply to you. Marketing people do this all the time.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 with their brand.You can use a similar approach for your profile photo. If you want to stay authentic and not Photoshop 20 years off your image, just to get stares when you show up for the interview, then this is the best approach.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 Disneyland, water parks, a sporting event. The brainstorm will be unique to e veryone.Now you should find a way of incorporating those images into your profile photo.Make a SplashBy the way, this advice isnt just for the older generations combatting ageism. The same strategies can be employed by the younger generations facing similar challenges. The irony for me at the engineering symposium 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 very same issue. Im younger than the others, he said, but Im just as qualified. What can I do to combat Ageism?As always, your comments are welcome.(A climate mangles a rush myth.)