There are hundreds of thousands applicants for a small batch of vacancies. Clearing the screening round and securing an interview seat is challenging as well as energizing. Getting an interview call is an art which must be mastered by following the correct approaches and tricks. Around 90% of the employers use job application as a medium to screen students and call them for an interview session. Hence, preparing a powerful and impressive job application is necessary and pivotal to boost the chances of selection.
What Is A Job Application?
Every institution has its own carefully designed form that has several questions ranging from your name and educational background to some tricky interview questions like why should we hire you etc. This form is known as a job application form and candidates are asked to fill out this form with precision and care. This job application form is available at various sources that include:
- The websites or portals of any third party managing the recruitment process
- Physically available at the recruiter’s office
- Available at the website of the employer
- Mobile applications maintained by the employer for recruitment purposes
- Kiosks installed at job festivals
Types of Job Application Forms
There are primarily three types of job application forms:
1) Online Job Application Form
These forms are available on the websites of the recruiter or any recruitment agency handling the recruitment process of the employer organization.
2) Physical Job Application Form
A company may require you to collect the application form from their registered office or a designated branch and send the filled form to their headquarters in order to further your job application.
3) Electronic Mail Address Job Application Form
If you have applied for a job by sending a mail to their official mail address then most probably you would receive the application form through the same route only. You would be required to fill it out carefully and hope for a positive response.
Contents Of A Typical Job Application Form
A standard job application form consists of following sections presented in a sequential order:
a) Personal Information Section
All the personal details related to a candidate must be mentioned in this section. It consists of the following sub-sections:
- Name of the candidate
- Permanent residence of the candidate
- Contact number
- Email address
- Personal identity number
b) Educational Qualification Section
This section requires you to mention your all the educational qualifications ranging from school to your highest degree in a chronological order. This section consists of the following sub-sections:
- Educational institutions attended
- Major subjects read
- Grades or percentages or marks obtained in major subjects
- Certifications and educational courses completed
- Training and internships completed
- Extra curricular activities
c) Previous Employment Section
This section requires you to fill basic details about your previous employer. It consists of the following sub-sections:
- Name of the employer
- Permanent address, contact number, and official email address of the company
- Job description
- Duties performed
- Gross salary/Annual package
- Tenure served
- Reasons for leaving
d) Evaluating Section
This section comprises 2-4 tricky questions to evaluate your interpersonal skills, special abilities, and your grasp on your core profile. Model questions pertaining to this section are listed below:
- What are your biggest failures?
- Describe a situation when you faced backlash from your team?
- How do you handle the pressure?
- Are you willing to work under strict deadlines and extended working hours?
- How patient you are?
- Share with us your worst point in life?
Ten Most Powerful Tips
1) Read The Instructions Thoroughly
Usually, an employer places several guidelines and instructions which are to be followed while filling out the job application form. Missing out on any of them may prove fatal as this gives a bad impression to the employer. This gives an impression that you not attentive and you can’t keep your head in anxious situations.
2) Be Aware Of The Format
It is highly beneficial and recommended to become aware of the formats of a typical job application form. The format used by your prospective employer would most probably revolve around this set template. Becoming aware of the format to a greater extent would enable you to fill out the form more precisely and thereby reducing the chances of making a mistake considerably.
3) Keep Relevant Documents Ready
There are several documents which must be readily available with you as you will need to refer from them while filling out your job application form. These documents include:
- A copy of your updated resume
- An employer-issued copy of the job description
- All your educational certificates and mark sheets
- Your personal identifications
- A list containing all your references
4) Maintain A Decent Handwriting
Writing in illegible and dirty handwriting may lead to an outright rejection of your job application no matter how impeccable your academic records are or how valuable your work experience is. If a person can’t maintain decency and an even flow while writing, then most probably he or she can’t be a good employee of the company. Writing in decent handwriting is the first and foremost requirement. By decency we don’t mean cursive or stylish writing, it is just that your handwriting should be neat and clear.
5) Mention All Your Educational Qualifications
In the best interests of an employee and his or her chances of selection, it is advisable to completely fill out the educational qualifications section mentioned in the job application form. Missing out on any detail unintentionally or intentionally skipping any educational detail can ruin your chances of selection, as all the employers prefer to have a complete view of all your educational achievements.
6) Always Respond To All The Questions
While filling out a job application form you would experience that there are several questions that do not pertain to, belong or match your job description. Usually, job application forms are not customized for a particular job opening, rather a standard form is prepared to cover almost all the vacancies expected to released by the organization in the near future. Leaving them blank is not advisable, rather you can mark it as ‘Not applicable’.
7) Don’t Put Any Random Figure In Salary Column
In the job application forms, you would most probably find a column asking you about your salary expectations. It has been a common mistake of the candidates to fill out any arbitrary and random figure in that column. We strictly advise you not to make these mistakes, rather conduct a thorough market survey and try to evaluate your worth. Further, if you did not get any time to research similar salaries offered, then simply write ‘negotiable instead of filling it out with any random figure.
8) Don’t Skip Tricky Questions
It is common to include several tricky questions in the job application forms in order to conduct an evaluation of your skills, abilities, and work ethics. The questions are tough to answer and mostly intellectual, but it is almost inescapable to answer them. The responses to those questions help an interviewer to understand whether or not you can fit in the work culture of the organization.
9) First Chance To Impress
The first step in a long recruitment journey is when you are asked to fill up the job application form. This is your first chance to impress your employer and hence this event holds its relevance even more. One must practice by filling in a few standard job application forms available on the internet for free. This would give you a clear idea of how you have to fill a job application form and eventually increase your efficiency.
10) Always Revise
Lethargy, carelessness, and a casual attitude would not lead you anywhere. A candidate must strive to complete his job application form well within the time allotted to give ample time for revising it completely. Upon revising, you would certainly find errors or writing styles which you would definitely want to change. Further, you might also feel that a particular line must be added to any particular answer to give it a complete and fluent look.
Conclusion
In this era of strict competition and unsettled business dynamics, it is almost mandatory to take each and every process of a selection procedure sincerely. Job application being the first part of a long recruitment journey must be completed in a proficient and dexterous way to increase your chances of selection. If you like our articles then don’t forget to share them with your family and friends. Also, do let us know through the comments section below, how much you like our articles.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01421590600834286
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aUY7cVz8f3oC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=10+Powerful+Job+Application+Tips&ots=XeLMcHC5n5&sig=g7Rz-Y0qJvW0zUDpUtkfDb3EHFc
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
All the team management, content creation, and monetization tasks are handled by me. Together with the team at PrepMyCareer, the aim is to provide useful and engaging content to our readers.