An employment application form, or job application form, is a record that allows people to apply for a job with your organization. It gathers information regarding the candidate, such as their name and work experience. A fantastic employment application form might even help job seekers self-determine whether they are qualified to work at your business or not.
In this guide, we’ll offer a free job application form template that you use and let you know what to include and avoid mentioning on your form.
After the software start rolling in, keeping them organized can be a challenge. Make sure you follow with promising applicants in a timely fashion by utilizing an applicant tracking system such as Freshteam. This program will let you easily collaborate with your hiring managers, build a candidate database, and see at a glance the data that may lead to a next hire. The basic version is completely free — click here to try it out:
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Free Employment Application Form Template
Here is a totally free one-page employment program form template you may use for screening job applicants. You can download and print it out to walk-in job seekers.
This sample job application is an excellent starting point and can be accommodated for your company by adding additional sections and questions.
Download the employment application template for a PDF or DOC.
Things to Ask & What to Avoid on Your Employment Application Form
The purpose of the employment application form is to gather basic information about each candidate and also assist you to determine which candidates you’d like to proceed further along from the hiring process.
The graph below shows what we recommend including in your job application form. In addition, we include information that it is best not to ask on the employment application form or during the interview process, along with the reasons why.
By way of example, some questions risk that the data gathered may violate federal labour legislation, anti-discrimination laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, age discrimination laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) legislation, which protect a person’s confidential health-related information.
Things to Include & Things to Ask on Your Job Application
| Include This | Avoid This | Why Prevent? |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Legal Name | Marital Status, Salutations | Title VII, Sexism & Gender Discrimination |
| Email Address | Physical or Mailing Address | Title VII, Financial Status & Race |
| Phone Number | Social Security Number or Tax Status | Privacy & Data Security |
| Preferred Name | Race, Age and Sex | Name VII & ADEA |
| Military Service — Skill Set Acquired | Military Dates or Discharge Reasons | Title VII, HIPAA & ADEA |
| Years of Related Experience | Date of Birth | Name VII & ADEA |
| Degrees Achieved, Specialties or Majors and Educational Institutions | Graduation Dates | Name VII & ADEA |
| Eligibility to Work in the United States | Citizenship and Visa Status | Name VII & Ethnicity |
| Work History and Job Skills | Reasons For Termination From a Prior Job, Arrest Record, References or Ahead Salary | Title VII, HIPAA, Wage Discrimination & Legal Issues Like Libel |
20 Good Questions to Ask to a Job Application Form
The main thing to keep in mind while creating an employment application form would be to ask targeted questions that give you a keen understanding of the value a job candidate can bring to your company. Stick to questions about job performance, work experience and behavior.
The employment application questions below will allow you to recognize interpersonal traits, for example communication skills, thoughtfulness, motives and the candidate’s ability to work collaboratively. Answers to 2 or three of these kinds of questions can give you a fantastic sense of who the job seeker is, beyond abilities. They assist you to determine whether the job applicant is going to be a good fit for the job and your company culture.
Listed below are 20 questions to pick from that you may want to ask in your work application form.
- What about our firm is the most exciting to you?
- Why do you wish to work for our firm?
- How many hours can you work weekly and what changes are you available?
- Are you currently able to commute to our location in a fair period of time?
- Which were your best achievements in your last function?
- Describe if you had to make a tough choice. What do you really have to select between and why did you pick it?
- Supply an example of a time that you worked with a team.
- Supply a comprehensive illustration of a time that you demonstrated leadership.
- Describe your relationship with your last immediate supervisor.
- What would your most recent supervisor have to say about you?
- Why did you proceed, or why are you looking to move on, from your most recent position?
- Describe your perfect supervisor.
- Describe yourself in five words.
- What achievement are you most proud of in your personal or professional life?
- Provide a short list of your own personal strengths (they don’t need to be job-related).
- Describe how you are able to conquer your top three flaws.
- Provide a one- or two-sentence glimpse of your primary career goal.
- If money were no object, what would you do as your livelihood?
- Describe a time when you”took one for the team.”
- What was your favorite occupation on yesteryear and why?
Pro Suggestion: Five Queries is Normally Enough
While you don’t wish to scare away applicants or create your program form unduly long, you really do want to include up to five questions from the list. If you’re thinking a number of these questions are much better saved for your interview, then you’re not wrong. But asking some of these on the employment application form may save you from needing to interview the person in any way.
Consider it as”pre-screening.” It simply saves time by getting you to qualified applicants quicker, as weak candidates will expose themselves together with replies such as,”I don’t know”. If an applicant is not willing to supply five brief answers on an application, do you believe that they will make a fantastic employee? Probably not.
5 Questions Not to Ask & Why They May Pose a Legal Risk
On a job application form, you want to prevent five types of queries that can cause legal headaches and that squander time. Some of these are risky based on federal law.
- Queries about protected characteristics, such as race, age, sex and faith. You should steer clear of these questions because they relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which affects all companies with more than 15 workers. Questions about race, sex or marital status can disclose if someone is a part of a protected class and cause unintentional bias on your part. Questions Regarding age violate the ADEA.
- Queries about confidential information like health conditions, Social Security numbers and tax status. Some questions about confidential information such as Social Security numbers and taxation status could be requested either after hiring or, if needed, as a state of the offer (such as passing a desktop screen or credit rating ). Medical, pregnancy and disability information remains private because of HIPAA laws, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the ADA — to prevent discriminating against a disabled person. They should never be asked about on a project application form.
- Questions about salary history may cause you to subconsciously offer a minority or female less cover than other workers in the exact same role. It is OK to ask what type of salary or pay range that the candidate is seeking but, due to recent legal changes in many states, it can be risky to ask questions regarding the applicant’s prior salary history. In addition, your subconscious bias may permit you to eliminate good candidates believing either that they made too much at their last job or that they’ve only held lower paying jobs — even if they have the proper skills for your own position. In a nutshell, you should cover a candidate according to your job requirements, not the prior salary he or she made.
- Queries about criminal history. Some states are cracking down on employers who ask questions such as”have you ever been arrested?” Others have prohibited the box asking if an applicant has been convicted of a felony.
- Questions which won’t help you decide if an applicant is a fantastic match for your job, which wastes the applicant’s and your time — for example”If you’re an animal, what kind of animal would you be and why?” Avoid unnecessary concerns by having a staff member, your human resources representative or the supervisor of this staff read the application type. Does everything matter to the role? Is anything extraneous? Are there any nonsense questions you should eliminate?
Should All Businesses Have An Employment Application Form?
An employment application form can be a great pre-screening tool but it’s not right for all tiny businesses. In fact, lots of jobs posted online don’t call for a paper form. Here are the main two scenarios where an employment application form makes sense:
1. Your Goal Job Seeker is a Hourly Worker or a Walk-in Applicant
In case you’ve got walk in fireplaces, then it’s a good idea to have a simple one-page employment application form because you’ll certainly have walk-in job seekers. For example, restaurants, clothing shops, cafes, daycares and other brick-and-mortar businesses frequently have people pounding down their doors to determine if they are hiring. You will want something for them to fill out and give back to you.
If you are primarily online or in a market where clients don’t walk into your office, you may not require an application form. In that case, candidates will probably submit resumes with cover letters through email, your site, or an online job posting site.
Should you have to post your job online, consider using Really, our recommended job website for smaller businesses to find hourly workers.
2. You Need to Keep Job Seeker Information on File For a Future Opening
A job application form is handy if you get a blind solicitation out of a job seeker, like by email, and wish to give them an employment application form to complete. This can be helpful once you don’t have a job opening right now but want to gather their information if something opens up. It is possible to send them a PDF link for your form via email.
Depending on your type of business, the work program can be a means not to only find great ability that matches what you want but also serves to create an on-demand pipeline if someone resigns, walks outside or has been terminated. Then you have a list of names with emails and phone numbers to call, eliminating last-minute panic.
When & How Long to Save Job Applications
Save your completed job programs in a easy way. Three folders are all you will need — rejected, hired and now in the pipeline. Organize the applications within each folder by date, most recent first.
In most states, you must keep job application forms for at least one year. After an applicant has been hired, is older than age 40 or in a protected class, two decades may be safer. Here is what SHRM recommends.
Obviously, why maintain all that paper as soon as you’re able to arrange applicants in an applicant tracking system, such as Freshteam.
Disclaimer: FitSmallBusiness provides education, templates and information. To be safe, have your lawyer opinion your employment application and project program retention needs to make sure that your company is compliant with all federal, state and local conditions.
Bottom Line
Once you have your employment application type created and approved, start using it. Add it to your’we’re hiring’ page on your website or print copies and leave them on your own service counter. You’ll probably discover that you not only receive much better candidate information out of candidates that satisfy your business needs but you are going to have a tool you can use when you are out and around and just happen to stumble upon somebody you’d like to hire. Simply hand them a project application or obtain their email so you can send them one.
Once your software start rolling in, consider using the free version of Freshteam’s applicant tracking system to keep track of these candidates.
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