Are You Going Broke Applying For Jobs? 3 Easy Things You Can Do To Save Money & Time & Still Get the Job

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Right now, it’s interview season for law student across the country.  During the first week of school, I was busy sending out resumes, cover letters, and transcripts. What I discovered during the process is that sending that stuff out gets expensive when you have to buy paper, envelopes, and postage. It also takes a lot of time. In the high stakes game of law school, you often don’t have enough time in the day to fit in sending out resumes. Here’s a list of 3 things I learned during the process of sending out resumes that can help save you time and money.

1. Don’t buy the fancy resume paper. Most people think that if you want to get the job, you have to get the nice thick marbled resume paper. This stuff can cost something like $13 a box for 100 pieces of paper. While $13 isn’t that much for 100 sheets, I wasn’t planning to send out 100 resumes. I sent just out 9 to different firms in Oklahoma City. So those nine pieces of fancy resume paper would have cost me about $1.44 each. (That’s $13 divided by 9). No way The Frugal Law Student was going to do that! I just use the normal white printing paper my school has in the library. It was free (I guess it wasn’t technically free, my tuition paid for it), and it was convenient. “But Brett, won’t printing on just normal paper leave a bad impression with your future employers?” I haven’t had a problem with it. In fact, I’ve heard that many employers prefer just normal paper because it copies better. When you send your resume in, employers are going to make copies of it. When the background is some marbled, ivory color, it doesn’t copy as well. Also, white paper makes reading text easier. Employers skim resumes, so making your resume as easy to read as possible will them out. So just stick with normal white printing paper. You not only save time, but you also save money. Also, consider making a PDF file of your resume. Most of the firms that contacted me asked that I send them my resume electronically so they can easily distribute it to the attorneys that I’ll be interviewing with. You never know what kind of word processing program other people are using. Because PDF is universal, you won’t have to worry about someone not being able to open up your resume. Being able to create a PDF also shows you’re tech savvy, which is a plus when looking for a job. I use CutePDF to create my PDF files. It’s free and super easy to use.
2. Buy envelopes in bulk. Last year when I sent resumes out for summer internships, I would just buy manila envelopes as I needed them. But the problem was that each package cost $5 and only had 5 envelopes. Not only did I use these envelopes for resumes, but I would also use them to send books to people on Amazon. It started adding up quick. What I did during the summer is I bought a box of 100 Office Depot Brand manila envelopes for $7. I’ve used almost half of them already. I’m sure I’ll use them up by the of the year. Let’s say I’ve used 50 envelopes so far in the past three months. That comes out to around $.14 an envelope. That’s much better than $1 per envelope I was paying before. I’ve also saved time because I don’t have to drive to the store anymore when I need an envelope. I just go to the closet where I keep them, pull one out, and address it. Easy.
3. Buy printable labels. I didn’t do this, but I wish I did. Instead of addressing your envelopes by hand, just buy a package of printable address labels. You can get a good deal on these if you buy them in bulk. Like manila envelopes and unlike the resume paper, you’ll actually use these latter on, so it’s worth it. You’ll save yourself a ton of time by doing it. Plus, it just looks better than handwriting. I had to spend a lot of time carefully writing the address of 9 different firms. I wanted everything to be nicely centered and clearly legible. Let the computer do that for you.

There you go. Those are my three things I learned during the job application process that can save you money and time. What do you all do to save money when sending resumes out? Drop a line in the comment box and add to the conversation.

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5 Comments

1. paulette on 07.06.2008 at 21:07 (Reply)

   Better to get email add of your prospect employer. This saves time and waste control compared to handing out resume being send to wrong people due to mishandling.

2. Bathrooms on 01.07.2008 at 02:10 (Reply)

   I always tried to save time by emailing / PDFing my CV rather then spending money on paper and postage etc.

   Found it really helped in the long run!

3. Career Training on 19.08.2008 at 11:59 (Reply)

   I have been unemployed for a few months… been living off my student loans. I have about 5 interviews a week and have yet to find a decent job. The market is in such a flux. Thanks for the advice!

4. CA Paralegal Training on 15.10.2008 at 10:46 (Reply)

   Luckily, I’ve done most of my job searching through the Internet. Most companies prefer that you email them your resume anyway. I suggest that you keep both a word file and a pdf file of your resume on your computer in an easy to find place.

5. Student Financial Aid Information on 20.10.2008 at 19:24 (Reply)

   I agree - we think it is best that you use the internet. That is the preferred method of job advertising, and the preferred method of receiving resumes.

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