What Information to Ask on a Job Application Form

The job application form is your first filter. Ask too little, and you don't have enough information to evaluate candidates. Ask too much, and qualified candidates abandon the form before finishing. Getting the fields right is more important than most people realize — and the right set of fields depends heavily on the role.

Here's a field-by-field breakdown of what to include, what's optional, and what to skip entirely.

Always Include: The Basics

These fields belong on every application, regardless of role:

• Full name — first and last, in separate fields if you want to sort by last name later
• Email address — this is your primary communication channel; make it required
• Phone number — optional for some roles, required if you'll be doing phone screens
• Location / City — especially important for in-person or hybrid roles; useful even for remote roles to know timezones
• Resume upload — a PDF upload is standard; also consider allowing LinkedIn URL as an alternative for candidates who don't have a formatted resume

Usually Include: Role-Specific Qualifiers

These fields help you screen applicants before reviewing their resume. Pick 2–4 that are most relevant to your role:

• Years of relevant experience — a dropdown (0–1, 1–3, 3–5, 5+) is faster to process than a text field
• Portfolio or work sample URL — essential for design, writing, development, and creative roles
• LinkedIn profile URL — useful for professional roles; gives you a quick second view of their background
• Availability / notice period — "When can you start?" or "What is your current notice period?" is useful if timing matters
• Salary expectations — controversial, but useful for avoiding late-stage surprises; frame it as "What is your expected annual compensation range?"
• Work authorization — "Are you authorized to work in [country] without sponsorship?" if relevant

Sometimes Include: Deeper Screening Questions

Short-answer questions let you assess candidates before reviewing their resume. Use these sparingly — no more than 2–3 questions, and only ask questions you'll actually read the answers to:

• "Why are you interested in this role?" — reveals motivation and whether they've done any research
• "Describe a relevant project or accomplishment in 2–3 sentences" — gets to the point faster than a full cover letter
• A role-specific question: "What tools do you use to manage projects?" or "Walk me through how you'd approach [specific task]"
• "Where did you hear about this role?" — useful for tracking channel effectiveness

Short-answer questions work better than long cover letter prompts because they're easier to write, faster to read, and more focused. A 3-sentence answer to a good question tells you more than a 500-word cover letter that restates their resume.

Optional: Cover Letter

Cover letters are controversial. The arguments against making them required:

• Most cover letters are generic and add little screening value
• Requiring a cover letter reduces application volume — sometimes the people you most want don't bother applying
• They take significant time to write and create friction for candidates who are otherwise highly qualified

If you want a cover letter, consider making it optional rather than required. Or replace it with 2–3 focused questions that get you the same signal with less friction.

Don't Ask: What to Leave Off

Some fields feel natural to include but actually hurt you:

• Date of birth — no legitimate screening reason; creates legal risk in many jurisdictions
• Home address (full) — city is usually enough at application stage; collecting a full address early is unnecessary and a privacy concern
• References at application stage — don't ask for references until you're at the offer stage; asking early adds friction with no benefit
• Long essay questions — "In 500 words, describe your career goals and what makes you uniquely qualified for this role" is the kind of question that makes good candidates click away
• Questions you won't read — if your hiring volume means you'll skim every application in 30 seconds, don't add fields that require 2 minutes to evaluate

A Good Default Application Form

For most roles, this set of fields works well:

1. First and last name (required)
2. Email address (required)
3. Phone number (optional for remote roles, required for local/in-person)
4. City / location (required)
5. Resume upload — PDF (required)
6. LinkedIn profile URL (optional)
7. Years of relevant experience — dropdown (required)
8. One role-specific short question (required)
9. How did you hear about this role? (optional dropdown)

This takes most candidates 5–8 minutes to complete and gives you everything you need to make a first-pass decision. Learn more about collecting applications with ApplyHere.