Preparing to Fill Out a Job Application

So that you may gather information, paperwork, etc. to prepare in advance, below is a list of the types of details that employers typically want you to provide on a job application.

About the Sample Job Application Details

The list of job application details excludes the ordinary for which you don't need to prepare, such as your contact information.

It is written in "plain text" so that you may copy it from your screen and then paste it into a simple text-editing application, such as Notepad that comes with Windows® operating systems. You might lose some formatting, but it'll be fairly easy to fix. Of course, you can simply print this page instead.

If you want a slightly fancier bullet-list format (•) for your word-processing application, such as Microsoft® Word, then download the list of job application details instead of copying or printing it. The download version is a rich text format (.rtf) file, which is safe to download and suitable for most word processors.

Sample Job Application Details

* Social security number (SSN)
* Driver's license number and state of issue
* Whether or not you've been convicted of a crime by civil or military courts
~ Nature of offense
~ Date of conviction
~ Location where convicted
~ Disposition (sentence, probation, etc.)
* Home addresses for the past ten years
* Date you're available for work
~ If you must give your current employer notice two weeks in advance, write "Two weeks notice".
~ Otherwise, write the date on which you know for sure that you can start work.
* Military service; bring discharge papers in case they ask to see them
~ Entry and discharge dates
~ Type of discharge
~ Branch of service
~ Occupational specialization
~ Special training received and dates
~ Last rank
~ Whether or not you're a war veteran, for affirmative-action programs
* Position desired, first and second choices
* Geographic preference, first and second choices; natch, make sure the company has an office there
* Salary or wage desired; to temporarily sidestep the money issue for later negotiation, write "Negotiable", "Open" or "Competitive"
* How you heard about the job
~ If an employee referred you, get the employee's work contact information in advance.
~ Then include it on the job application if required, so the employee receives incentives due.
* Education and training
~ Start and end dates
~ School names and addresses
~ Majors and minors
~ Degrees earned and dates
~ Grade point average
~ Rank in class
~ Advanced-degree theses titles if any and advisors' names
* Additional skills; typically not needed unless applicable for the job
~ Typing WPM
~ Steno WPM
~ Professional licenses
~ Language fluency
~ Software knowledge
~ Equipment knowledge
~ Technical skills
* Professional organization memberships
~ Names of organizations
~ Dates of membership
~ Addresses and phone numbers
* Whether or not you are authorized to work in the country; bring the paperwork if you're an immigrant or have a work visa
* Up to four references
~ Business and home postal mail (and possibly email) addresses
~ Day and evening phone numbers
~ Occupations, job titles or both
~ Relationships with you
* Whether or not you've previously applied for work or worked at the same company; if so:
~ Dates of application or employment
~ Divisions, units and departments for which you've worked
~ Names of bosses
* Work history
~ Names of employers including current employer
~ Mailing and street addresses (if different), and phone numbers. Provide this information for the offices where the Human Resources (HR) departments or your work records are located.
~ Start and end dates; write "Present" for the end date at your current employer
~ Reasons for leaving your jobs. (Never criticize a former employer; instead, write something generic like "Career advancement".)
~ Last or beginning and ending salaries or wages; to temporarily sidestep the money issue for later negotiation, write "Competitive"
~ Boss's names, titles and business contact information
~ Your titles and the type of work you did
~ Reasons for gaps of 90 days or more in your work history, other than for attending school

Preparing to Fill Out a Job Application
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