Application forms

If you’ve spent a lot of time polishing your CV and getting a cover letter together, it can be daunting to be suddenly faced with an application form to fill out instead. Don’t worry, application forms are still asking for the same information, they just want it in a different format. In fact, jobs which require applicants to fill out a form instead of submit a CV and cover letter tend to receive fewer applications, so it really is worth taking the time to fill one out.

Read the application form thoroughly before you start, some of them have one section for describing how you meet the requirements of the job description (think of this part as your ‘cover letter’ area) and others break this down into sections relating to skill sets. You want to make sure you’re putting the right information in each place.

The application form will also have an area to list your work history – think of this as the ‘CV part’ – depending on how much space you have here, you may want to trim down the information you have on your CV to just the parts that are directly relevant to the job description. Never leave out an employer completely though – even if you just worked for them 15 years ago for 6 months, you should still list this on the application form.

Finally, a word of warning – some application forms invite you to submit a CV alongside them as supporting evidence. You should always do this when given the opportunity, but don’t be fooled, the application form is still your ‘golden ticket’ to getting an interview, all the information and examples of your skills that are relevant to the job should be on there.