Over the course of your career, you will undoubtedly learn new ways to approach your job search. Whether you are just entering the job market or you are a seasoned professional looking to take the next step up the corporate ladder, you may employ a different strategy to find your next job. While every job seeker is different, most successful job seekers follow a handful of best practices to ensure their search is effective and ultimately leads to a job offer.

Before you embark on your next job search, consider the following tactics in order to be a highly effective job seeker:

1. Be well organized

Planning out your approach before beginning your job search can play a major role in how efficient you will be. For example, some job seekers make the mistake of blindly sending their resume to companies with the hopes of getting a call back. Unfortunately, taking this approach can prove to be very ineffective. On the other hand, a more successful job seeker plans and prioritizes the types of roles and companies they are most interested in working with. How? They might create an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the companies they’ve already applied to, or target a number of employers within a specific industry. In the long run, the more organized you are, the easier it will be to identify strategies that work, as well as what improvements need to be made.

2. Be a savvy marketer

Being a savvy marketer doesn’t mean you take an unconventional approach to getting the attention of employers. Instead, a savvy marketer understands the importance of having a well-tailored resume for each role they apply to. Along the same lines, a highly effective job seeker understands how to strategically include ‘keywords’ throughout their resume (or cover letter) to get it noticed by employers. Instead of using the same resume for every job you apply to, be sure to construct different resumes that highlight your strengths as they relate to the role/company.

3. Be emotionally intelligent

It can be discouraging if you haven’t been able to land a role after months of job hunting. After some time, this can begin to wear on your mental state. While some job seekers take these missteps to heart and allow them to impact their ability to interview well, successful job seekers will maintain a better outlook throughout their job search. For example, they will maintain enthusiasm throughout their interviews, they are patient as they await responses, and remain diligent in their job search. Don’t allow a few setbacks to prevent you from getting the job you deserve!

4. Be a strategic networker

One of the most common things job seekers tend to overlook (or avoid) throughout their job search is their network. It is more than simply connecting with people on LinkedIn, but being strategic about who you connect with. Instead of only trying to connect with people on LinkedIn, attend an upcoming meetup or networking mixer with likeminded professionals in your field. These are practical solutions you can use to get in front of the right person.

5. Be prepared

There’s no better feeling than being prepared for what’s to come. Whether you are preparing questions and responses for interview questions or researching a company thoroughly before an interview, a highly effective job seeker will be prepared for each stage of the job process. While there can be a lot of moving parts during a job search, anticipating what may be asked of you by prospective employers is one of the best ways to stay ahead of your competition.

6. Be a good communicator

Strong written and verbal communication skills are important for almost every professional. That’s why a failure to communicate properly throughout your job search can hurt your chances of being hired. For example, a good communicator has a strong attention to detail as well as follows instructions thoroughly. This means that their emails are free of typos, they respond promptly to requests, or ask detailed questions if they need more information.