It’s crucial that your job application process be designed to attract top talent. It needs to be easy to use, innovative, and contemporary.
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By Leeyen Rogers
The vast majority of job application forms are notoriously tedious, and applicants dread the dull and antiquated application work flows. Too many application forms ask for a résumé upload, then proceed to demand manual entry of the same information. We’ve all been there!
The following three tips will help you kick these ineffective practices to the curb and watch quality applications roll in.
1. Streamline the data collection process.
The most glaring problem that your job application form can have is inefficiency. If your form is inefficient, confusing, or outright aggravating—you stand little chance of getting the right people to make it through your entire form and submit it. And even if some do, they will not walk away with a positive impression of your company.
Make sure that you only require answers or materials that are relevant and necessary, and cut out the tedious sections that will hurt your conversion rates, like making applicants manually repeat information that has already been gathered.
2. Use conditional logic to customize the experience.
Conditional logic allows you to show or hide questions on a form based on how users respond to previous questions. It’s an effective way to keep forms shorter and to ensure that you capture just the information that you need.
This reduces the risk of annoying your applicants by asking for things that are not applicable. Conditional logic also allows you to use just one form to capture information for multiple roles, asking specific questions to each user based on what role and team they’re applying for.
3. Collect additional information effectively.
Use widgets, or advanced form fields, to capture the information you need in the format that suits it best. For example, you can use a file upload field to collect résumés and a photo upload field if you need to collect a headshot or image.
If you’re trying to collect information on when the applicant would be available to come in for an interview, instead of e-mailing back and forth, simply set up a date reservation form field that allows you to display a calendar on your form so your users can select dates that correspond with the purpose of the form. (If prior form users have selected a date or a range of dates, they will be grayed out—they cannot be selected.)