The Absolute Worst Feature of LinkedIn

Five years ago, OKCupid performed an experiment on its one million users. For seven hours, its mobile app hid every single profile picture.

Here's what happened to its traffic:

Clearly, love is not blind.

This outcome is very predictable for a dating app, in which physical attraction is a key ingredient of the product. But a second experiment revealed even deeper insights into human psyche -- insights of which every hiring manager should be aware.

During this experiment, users were presented with complete profiles -- photos and text -- and were asked to rank potential matches on personality and attractiveness.

Here were the results:

In this experiment, looks were found to explain almost all the variation in personality scores. And to identify the independent variable, several test profiles were again rated both with and without text.

The science is clear: as humans, we disproportionately assume someone's personality based on their looks.

Based on this research, I came to realize LinkedIn carries one fatal flaw: the profile picture. For the first time, unconscious biases based on gender, age, race, attire and details such as lighting and background complexity can alter the first impressions of hiring managers and recruiters before they even see a candidate's qualifications.

So several weeks ago, I changed my LinkedIn settings to hide profile pictures. When you pick up the phone for an interview with my company, I have no idea what you look like. Succeed or fail, it will be on your own merits.

As a hiring manager, I don't give a damn if your skin is white, brown, black, or purple. I don't care about what gender you identify as or what you've chosen to pierce or tattoo.

I care about whether you have the talent and conviction to build the world's best electric aircraft.

And if you're a hiring manager, so should you.