Why apply online?

There are a number of ways to go about looking for a new position. In this article we look at the various options and consider the benefits and drawbacks involved.

Option 1 – Write to individual companies on a speculative basis.  
The pro’s of this approach are that you can target companies quite carefully and if you have a specific company in mind you can ensure they receive your cv.  However the drawbacks are many and varied.  Firstly, firms tend to disregard CV’s received speculatively.  They like to know that an individual has applied for a specific role.  Secondly, it may be difficult to find the name of the correct contact.  Thirdly it is time consuming printing, posting, and tracking the CV’s you sent out, not to mention the mounting postage costs.

Option 2 – Send your CV to an agency to act on your behalf.  
The pro’s of this approach include the fact that they will have a reasonable idea of the current vacancies and the state of the market in general. They may also be able to help you with issues such as ‘cultural fit’, and may have anecdotal information regarding the various companies you may be interested in. However, there are still drawbacks.  Agencies tend to act as ‘preferred suppliers’ for some but not all the firms that are recruiting. So by limiting yourself to one agency you may be missing out on an ideal opportunity elsewhere.  And if you approach many agencies you are saddled with the same time/cost issue you have with posting your CV to firms directly.

Option 3 – Use an online Job Board such as theparalegal.co.uk
The beauty of using an online job board is that it encapsulates all the benefits from the other approaches whilst at the same time eliminating their downsides.  For example on theparalegal.co.uk you can see both legal firms and recruitment agencies advertising. You can ‘mix and match’ your approach by seeing which firms and agencies are active at any particular time.  In this you are targeting the firms directly whilst at the same time getting agencies to work on your behalf.  The firms will never receive your CV speculatively, as you will have ‘clicked’ a specific vacancy on the site.  And you will never need to try and find the correct contact, as your application will be routed directly to correct person almost instantaneously.  There are no printing or postage costs, and by using a site such as theparalegal.co.uk you can keep track of your applications and multiple copies of your CV safely in your own secure admin area of the site.  Finally, you can set up a ‘jobs by email’ profile. This will check each job posted to the site against criteria you set (eg salary, job type, title, location etc) and email you each time it finds a list.  Never mind the concept of finding the ideal job, in this case the ideal job will find you!

There has never been a better time to register online, so act now and register here to ensure that your next move is the right move for you.