A few months ago, I was inspired after reading a story in the New York Times about how a college senior named Liz took an Instagram profile (@newyorkcity) and turned it into a multi-million dollar social media business. That was a couple years ago when not everyone had an Instagram profile and Liz was able to snag @newyorkcity. She took beautiful and artsy pics of NYC and set the stage for newbie Instagrammers everywhere.

Today,  there are over 150 million active monthly users on the mobile app making it the fastest growing social network of 2013. An Instagram profile can tell thousands of words about a person and it’s now something we require potential candidates to provide before we consider hiring them. Why? Because if your Instagram profile isn’t up to par, you probably aren’t equipped to thrive in a social media position.

The best qualities of an  Instagram profile:

1. Clear pictures. Repeat, CLEAR pictures. Posting a blurry Instagram or a poor quality photo doesn’t really set you up for “like” success.

Beyonce, however, can do whatever she wants

2. Well-taken, tasteful pictures. I will almost always click like on a beautiful picture, sometimes even before looking at who posted it, if it grabs my attention right away. It helps me to take 10+ pictures of the same scene so I can choose which looks best. This is also the reason I have increased storage on my iPhone twice in the past year.

3. Tasteful filters and frames. You’ll often find me going through the filter row three times or more because I take the time to really assess which filter is the best and will encourage the most double taps. One of my major pet peeves is when people use a different frame for every picture. I enjoy a good Nashville frame every once in a while, but when a user goes nuts using tons of different frames, their profile looks cluttered and anxious and I want to look away.

And some of the worst qualities of an  Instagram profile:

1. Party pictures. No one wants to see you and your friends completely hammered. Pictures of you and your friends having a good time is perfectly acceptable, but I suggest you leave the shot pictures and the glazed over eyes for the group text the next morning.

And, they’re in high school….

2. Using #Instagood #Instamood #IGers and a million other hashtags in your post. I may spark a debate on this one but why, oh why, oh WHY do people use these on every picture they take? Yes, we know you’re #Instagood, you’re on Instagram! Choosing a hashtag relevant to the actual photo is much easier on the eyes.