I have heard the success of job application nowadays are more dependent on relationships, i.e. if you got somebody to recommend you in the company, chances are you most likely get it.

If some outside applicants send letter and resume to the HR through email or by normal mail without anybody to recommend them, most likely they will be ignored.

Is this true?

If this is true then how do we apply to a company without knowing anybody inside?

Yes, it's true to better go inside on your own right but the hard truth is those people in HR got too many candidates until they can't screen them one by one.

So, most of the time your resume will stay in the HR mailbox for a very very long time.

I would like to ask about the application methods.

Normally people nowadays apply jobs through several means:
1. Click in Jobstreet.com job postings

2. Send resume and cover letter to the company's HR email. The email address normally listed in the newspaper advertisements.

So, is it still a popular mean that applying jobs by sending normal mail, ie. resume and cover letter printed out in hardcopy form and stuffed in an envelope to be sent?

I just want to find out a formal way that make the employer thinks that I am serious about the application.

Sorry for this as I admit I really bad at marketing myself.

Last time I used to have this problem when nervous. What I did was before any hand shake, I would rub my palm lightly against my pants, of course not in a too obvious way.