Through a person, every time you can manage it. Referred candidates reach interviews at roughly 40 times the rate of cold applicants, which makes the referral the single strongest move in the whole process. Apply online too, but treat the portal as the paperwork, not the strategy.
The two paths are not either-or; they stack. The online application gets you into the system, which most employers require regardless. The human introduction is what changes how your file is received once it is there.
A workable sequence: find your connection first, ask whether they can refer you, then submit through the portal so the paperwork exists. Mention the referral wherever the application allows. If you have no connection at all, apply anyway, and start building one for the next opening.
“The portal files your paperwork, the person walks it to the desk.”
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