A job application form collects the facts a hiring team needs to screen a candidate for a specific role: contact details, eligibility to work, relevant experience, and availability. Ask only for information that bears on the job, because questions about age, family, religion, disability, and pay history carry legal risk in many places. Have your employment counsel review the final list before you publish it.
Job application form: 6,600 average monthly searches.Google Ads Keyword Planner · 2026-10-09 · United States
Job application template: 8,100 average monthly searches.Google Ads Keyword Planner · 2026-10-09 · United States
| Field | Type | Required | Why you ask it |
|---|---|---|---|
Full nameUse the name you want the employer to use. | Short text | Required | Identifies the candidate on every contact and in the applicant record. |
Email addressCheck the spelling before you submit. | Required | The main way to schedule the next step. | |
Phone numberInclude the area code. | Phone | Optional | A second way to reach the candidate about an interview time. |
Position applied for | Short text | Required | Matches the application to the open role, especially when several roles are posted. |
Are you legally authorized to work in the country where this job is located?YesNo | Single choice | Required | Screens for eligibility to work. Ask it of every candidate. The answer is not a document check. |
Earliest start date | Date | Optional | Shows whether the candidate can start inside your hiring window. |
Days and shifts availableWeekdaysEveningsWeekendsOvernightFlexible | Multiple choice | Optional | Matches availability to the schedule, which matters most for hourly and shift roles. |
Most recent job title and employer | Short text | Optional | Gives the interviewer a starting point for the work-history conversation. |
Work historyStart with the most recent job. Include dates, job title, and main duties. | Long text | Optional | Shows duties and dates for recent jobs, so the interviewer has something specific to check. |
Skills and certifications | Long text | Optional | Lists any license or certificate the role requires, and the skills that matter for the work. |
Years of experience in this type of workLess than 1 year1 to 3 years3 to 5 yearsMore than 5 years | Single choice | Optional | A rough screen for the level of experience the role needs. |
Professional referencesName, relationship, and the best way to contact each reference. | Long text | Optional | Names people who can speak to the candidate's work, with the best way to reach each one. |
Why are you applying? | Long text | Optional | Shows how the candidate understands the role. Read it for fit with the job, not for writing style. |
Example only, not a real submission
Use when you receive many applications for the same hourly role and screen most candidates by phone.
Use when the interview depends on documented experience, such as a supervisory or technical role.
Use when a current employee applies to another team.
Age rarely decides fit for the job. If the role has a legal minimum age, ask whether the candidate meets it, using wording your counsel approves.
Family and pregnancy questions can lead to discrimination claims even when the answer is never used. Leave them off entirely.
These describe protected characteristics. Hiring decisions should rest on the requirements of the job, and the form should not invite these answers.
Several US states and cities restrict asking for salary history. Ask about the pay the candidate expects for this role, after you check the rule where the job is located.
Some places limit when and how employers can ask about criminal history. Check the rule for your location before you add any question about it.
An application does not need it. Identity and tax details belong to the steps after an offer, handled through your payroll process rather than an open form.
Applicants land in the grid, one row each. Export CSV only when a screening panel needs the file, and limit who receives it.
Applications are picked up by a scheduled run, which happens hourly in production. The form's creator is notified after that. Do not promise candidates a reply within the hour.
Decide how long candidates should wait and who answers them. Put that window in the confirmation text, so nobody has to guess what happens next.
Each submission can open a Customer Care case with a priority, tags, and assignees set in the form settings. Turn this on only if your team already tracks candidates there.
Nothing here downloads as a file. Copy the field list into the document your team already uses, and check each question against the leave-out list first.
Include contact details, the role applied for, eligibility to work, availability, relevant work history, and references. Everything else is optional, and each question should connect to a screening decision you will actually make.
A resume shows how the candidate frames their own experience. An application gives you the same fields for every candidate. Asking for both lets the form capture consistent facts while the resume adds the candidate's own framing.
An online application is a normal way to collect candidate information. Legal risk depends on what you ask, how you use the answers, and where the job is. Have your employment counsel review the questions before you publish.
Choose a category and a form type in the wizard. Answer three Atty Suggestions questions, then give the form a title. Atty builds the fields in the background. Edit the fields and ask Atty to refine them, then publish and share the /f/ link.
