Jenny Yerrick Martin is a veteran entertainment hiring executive, a career consultant and strategist, and the creator/writer of YourIndustryInsider.com, the top online source for information on breaking in, moving up, and making it in entertainment. Your Industry Insider’s first information product, The Launching Outside Los Angeles Entertainment Career Kickstart Kit (a downloadable guidebook, workbook, & resource list), was recently released through the site, and many aspiring and budding entertainment industry professionals are now using it as a key resource to make their entertainment dreams come true. This post first appeared on YourIndustryInsider.com.

As I’m sure you know, there are a lot of people trying to make a name for themselves as actors. And it’s a hard thing to do. The odds are stacked against you based not on your talent or your looks, but simply because of the numbers.

Rough, I know. But here are some things you can do that will give you an edge in your chosen career pursuit:

1) Go to a name school. At an event I was at not long ago, Marcia Cross told a story about getting into Julliard, but then deciding to go to another school. Her acting teacher had simply vetoed that choice and steered her right back to going to Julliard. She considers the guidance of that teacher pivotal to her success.

Not everyone can go to Julliard, I know, but even if it’s not Julliard, consider how that school will look on your resume. Graduating with a degree from a prestigious acting program will often be the tie-breaker that gets you in the “consider” pile for agents, managers, and casting directors when your experience does not.

2) Take name acting class. Find out who the most successful actors in your town studied with and try to get into those classes. Even if you think you are a perfect actor with stellar skills and you don’t need any more training, just. do. it.

First of all, nobody is perfect at any artistic pursuit ever. But in this case, more importantly, these name acting teachers know other people in the biz. They know reps, casting people, producers… They are often called by these people and asked about the students in their classes, who might be right for a certain part or be a certain type or just be a fantastic actor. If you aren’t one of their students, these well-connected teachers cannot refer you. See?

3) Be a member of a famous improv group or theater company. This is another resume thing. If it says Member, The Actors Gang or Member, Second City on your resume, you’re pedigreed. You will be assumed to be a good dramatic or comedic actor, respectively. You will likely get into that “consider” pile based on that affiliation alone.

4) Be in a prestigious student film, short film, web series, or indie. How do you know what’s going to be prestigious? Look for people with films that have already won awards or other praise, and people who just know how to promote themselves and their films. But submit yourself for everything that looks promising and if the people making the film seem like boneheads when you audition, decline the part if they call and offer it to you. (But be gracious and try to blame it on scheduling demands, not them. Those boneheads might get their act together some day so you don’t want to burn any bridges.)

5) Have a powerful manager or agent. Duh, right? But some actors who are just starting out settle for an aspiring manager who doesn’t really do anything and then they neglect to look for someone better.

If your rookie manager is fairly well-connected and really diligent and is getting you into casting sessions you wouldn’t be able to get into yourself, then that person is doing their job and you are right to stay with them for a while. But if they aren’t doing anything, then you shouldn’t even bother telling anyone about them. Just keep on looking.

If you are doing your job, which is to find and land your own acting opportunities (you don’t need representation for any of the above action items), your resume and reel will gradually get more attractive to potential reps. So you should always be looking for the next step, the person who will take you somewhere you can’t get yourself.