The questions that come up before nearly every session — answered here in advance.
No. Since the General Equal Treatment Act of 2006, employers in Germany may not ask for a photo, and many companies explicitly request that you leave one out. It remains common practice all the same, and in many industries a good photo is received well. Read the job ad — if it says nothing, the photo is entirely your decision.
The rule of thumb: one step more formal than what is worn daily in the target profession. Plain tops look calmer at small sizes than patterns, and fine stripes can shimmer when scaled down. More important than the most expensive thing you own is that it fits and that you do not feel like a stranger in it — discomfort shows in the jaw and the shoulders.
Light reads open and neutral and is the safe choice for training positions, public administration and healthcare. Dark reads more serious and adds depth, which suits leadership roles and classic business. Both work; what matters is that the background stays quiet and takes nothing away from the face.
Direct eye contact and a genuine, small smile work best in almost every industry — friendly without looking forced. Everyone recognises a put-on grin, and a completely still face quickly reads as distant. You get direction in the studio; nobody is expected to manage this cold.
About two years at most — and only for as long as you still look like it. A clearly dated photo is noticed in the interview at the latest and leaves exactly the impression it was meant to avoid.
For private use, often yes. For an application, rarely: selfie distance distorts facial proportions, mixed living-room light makes skin tones patchy, and the crop almost never sits right. The result does not look unprofessionally photographed, it looks unprofessional — and that difference is expensive.
A portrait crop for the application file, and a square one with a tighter head area for LinkedIn and Xing. Both come from the same frame but have to be cropped separately — that is included in the Exclusive package.
Enough that you still recognise yourself. What goes are the things of the day — a spot, a patch of redness, a piece of lint on the jacket. What stays are lines, moles and freckles. A face smoothed flat always looks artificial on second glance, and then somebody else is sitting at the table in the interview.