Completing online application forms - seven key questions to ask yourself
1) Can you view or download the whole form before you start?
Not all forms allow you to, but it can be a big help when planning out your answers.
2) Does the form start with a few simple looking questions?
Beware of false friends. A wrong answer here may eliminate your application and block you from seeing the rest of the form.
3) Can you paste text into the form pages?
If the form allows this, you can prepare material and check it offline before copying it onto the form.
4) Is there an autosave facility?
Some forms do not save your work for you. If you haven’t saved it yourself, you may have to retype everything after logging out or if the system crashes. Very annoying!This is increasingly common with online forms. Ideally, you should have an idea of the kind of test and how to approach it before you begin.Not very common, but some organisations see beating the time limit as part of the selection process.This is far more common. A page on your wordprocessor may not fit into one page on the form. There may be word limits, or even limits to the number of characters (sometimes including spaces!) you can use. remember that all the usual rules for completing paper application forms still apply. Research the job just as thoroughly and don’t resort to email or txtspeak. You can find online applications discussed more thoroughly on the University of Kent careers website and try out a (rather rough and ready) sample online form at www.selectsimulator.com Colin Taylor is a careers adviser and freelance writer who has been publishing careers and employment related material for over five years. Find out more about him at http://www.coltext.com
Disclaimer
5) Is there a selection test built into the form?
6) Is there a time limit?
7) Is there a space limit for the ‘Supporting Comments’ or similar section?
Last of all
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