In short: No photo on a U.S. resume. Not because it is illegal for you to include one, but because it hands the employer information about protected characteristics they are supposed to avoid — so many will set the application aside rather than risk it. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the opposite is true: a professional photo is still customary and, in Switzerland, effectively expected. Same career, two different documents.
We build applications for both markets, which is the only reason this guide exists: this is the single convention that flips hardest at the Atlantic.
Why the U.S. avoids photos
U.S. federal anti-discrimination law (Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA) restricts hiring decisions based on protected characteristics. The EEOC’s guidance on pre-employment inquiries is explicit that questions or requests likely to reveal protected-class information should generally be avoided, and that a photograph may be requested only after an offer has been made and accepted.
A photo signals — accurately or not — race, approximate age, gender and sometimes religion. So a hiring team that receives one is holding evidence it did not want:
- Some employers instruct recruiters to reject or strip photo-bearing resumes to protect the process.
- Applicant tracking systems also parse images poorly, so a photo can cost you layout quality as well.
- Nothing about it helps you: there is no U.S. screening step where a face improves your case.
The same logic removes several other fields Europeans routinely include. On a U.S. resume, leave out:
| Leave off a U.S. resume | Why |
|---|---|
| Photo | Protected-characteristic signal; requestable only after an accepted offer |
| Date of birth, age | Age discrimination (ADEA) |
| Marital status, family status | Protected-class signal, and simply not relevant |
| Nationality, place of birth | Work authorization can be stated in one neutral line if needed |
| Gender, religion | Same reason |
| Full street address | City and state is the convention; a large share of recruiters filter by location in the ATS, so keep the city |
| Signature, “Curriculum Vitae” heading | Not U.S. conventions; “CV” in the U.S. means an academic document |
| Salary history | Bans in twenty-plus states; volunteer nothing |
Why Germany, Austria and Switzerland still expect one
The Lebenslauf tradition is a photo-bearing document. German anti-discrimination law (the AGG) makes photos legally optional and employers may not require one — but the practical convention has held: most German applications still carry a professional photo, top-right or in a header block, and recruiters are used to seeing it. In Austria it is likewise customary; in Switzerland it is the strongest expectation of the three.
If you are applying into the DACH market, the rest of the document changes too — a separate cover letter (Anschreiben) is standard, employer references (Arbeitszeugnisse) get attached, and gaps are labelled rather than hidden. We keep a full set of guides for that market on our German site, starting with Do you need a photo on a German CV?, and the German CV guide beside it. Those pages are written for the German market, in English — not translations of this one.
Crossing the Atlantic in practice
European applying to U.S. roles. Remove the photo, the birth date and the family details; cut the address to city and state; turn Curriculum Vitae into Resume; convert dates to Jan 2023 – Present; drop the signature block; and replace an objective statement with a short summary. Keep the substance — U.S. readers want outcomes and numbers, which European CVs often under-sell.
American applying to German-speaking roles. Add a professional photo (a real photographer, neutral background, industry-appropriate clothing), expect to write a formal one-page Anschreiben, and do not be alarmed by requests for certificates and references. Two pages is normal there; so is a level of formality that would read as stiff in the U.S.
One profile, two documents. This is the part people get wrong: it is not two careers, it is one set of facts rendered under two sets of rules. Keep the facts in one place and change the presentation per market.
Where JACVault fits
Our layouts carry the photo as a switch rather than a fixed design element, because the same person applying in Berlin and in Boston needs both versions. On the U.S. side the templates and layouts leave out the photo and the other fields in the table above and tell you why, rather than silently dropping them; on the German side they place and size the photo to local convention.
From launch, two complete applications are free, with a real PDF and no credit card — enough to see what the U.S. version of your existing CV looks like.
How to tailor a U.S. resume → · The German-market guides on jacvault.de · Straight answers
General information, not legal advice. U.S. statements follow published EEOC guidance on pre-employment inquiries; German, Austrian and Swiss statements describe prevailing convention, not legal requirement. Last reviewed: see the date at the top.