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What are the Best Tips for Filling out an Employment Application?

By Lauren Romano
Updated May 17, 2024
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When filling out an employment application, you want to make sure that it is perfect so you have a chance of getting the job that you want. Not only do you want to appear qualified, but also you want to show that you can be an asset to the company. Before you complete your next employment application, consider some tips on how you should fill it out.

Filling out the application can be a tedious process; however, it is important that you carefully read over every square inch of it. If you do not fill it out correctly, you are showing that you cannot follow simple directions, which is a quality that no employer wants in their employee. Read each question carefully, write your answer, and then read over the question and the response to make sure that you answered to the best of your ability.

When filling out the employment application, there should be no question left blank. Answer every question fully without sounding wordy. If one does not apply to you, write “not applicable.” If you leave a question blank, it will look as though you simply forgot to answer it, which may not bode well for a potential job candidate.

While you may not have all of the qualifications you wish did, it is important that you do not lie on your employment application. At the end of the application, before you sign it, there will usually be a statement that says that it is illegal to lie about any information given. Lying will also be a reason to fire you. In addition, many businesses will verify the information for its authenticity, so it is not difficult for someone to discover the lie during that process.

If you are spending your time filling out the employment application, you will want to make sure that it is readable. Write only in blue or black ink and be conscious of how legible your handwriting is. Check your spelling and grammar and make sure that the person reading the application will have no problem understanding the information.

An employment application is an opportunity to give a potential employer an idea about the person that you are and what qualifies you for a position. What you write can determine if you get to the next level of applying for the job. Before turning it in to the appropriate person, triple check it and make sure that you completed it perfectly.

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Discussion Comments

By sunshined — On Jul 18, 2012

I work in the personnel office of an insurance company, and part of my job is to go through the online employment applications we receive. After I review them, I forward on those that meet the qualifications to my boss.

It is interesting to see the different ways people have of filling out an employment application. There can be a fine line between not filling out very much information and giving too much.

Some people will write a whole essay when it comes to answering some of the questions. This can be just as negative as not filling out enough information.

A good job application needs to answer the questions in a way that is to the point, without making yourself look better than you are. You also don't want the person who reads the application to feel like they are reading a book.

By SarahSon — On Jul 18, 2012

I agree that a neat employment application is important, but many of them today are filled out online so you don't have to be so concerned about legible handwriting.

I think one of the most important things is to be truthful and honest about the information you put down. A co-worker I used to work with ended up getting fired because they found out she lied when she filled out her initial employment application form.

She was able to get by with this false information for awhile, but it eventually caught up with her.

By golf07 — On Jul 17, 2012

I think that is good advice to write "not applicable" in the spaces that don't apply to you. This really does look a lot better than just leaving a space blank.

Sometimes there are employment application questions that don't apply to you and this way it doesn't look like you just skipped over those questions.

Before the internet was used you had to physically go to each place of business and fill out an application. I always kept a written form with my information so I didn't have to try and remember it.

Making sure you have the correct phone numbers, addresses, and dates is very important, and I didn't want to rely on my memory or leave blank spaces on the application.

By myharley — On Jul 16, 2012

I have worked in human resources for several years and have read many employment job applications. I can usually tell within just a few seconds if I am going to spend much time reading an application or not.

If an application is sloppy with a lot of blank spaces, it is usually not worth taking the time to read the whole thing. For me, that is a big clue that someone is either not serious about the job, or is not putting their best foot forward.

Even though filling out a job application can be tedious, especially if you have filled out a lot of them, being careless and sloppy is an indication that you might not be a very efficient employee.

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