How important is an application form?

A job application form may once have been little more than a cover page for a CV, but today’s employers use these forms as a key stage in the selection process. The best way to understand how important they are is to look at the selection process from the point of view of an employer. Most jobs adverts attract at least dozens and often hundreds of applications, and dealing with them is all about elimination. Employers may only spend about 20 seconds looking at each application before deciding whether it goes on the possibles pile or straight into the rejects. With a mountain of forms to get through, they err on the negative side, looking for any excuse to reject an application and get the possibles down to a manageable size.

However brief and inconsequential the application form may seem, it is a prospective employer’s first look at you and needs to be filled in as effectively as you can. Employers shape the structure and content of their application forms carefully, ensuring that the responses will tell them all they need to know about an applicant’s suitability. You need to spend time and energy on working and re-working your application form to make sure it lifts you over this first hurdle between you and a new job.