Writing online application forms can be a time consuming business. They are mainly used by public sector organisations in the belief that they offer a fairer way of assessing candidates than the CV. However, from the job seekers perspective they often look unnecessarily complicated and require a lot of thinking and time to do real justice. There is no standard format either as each organisation designs the application form to suit their own needs.

Plan before you write

Read carefully about how the employer wants you to answer the questions. Some organisations use competency based questions. For example in the UK civil service they have types of behaviours they look for and have defined what these look like at different levels of management. Other organisations may simply want a two page personal statement and for you to read the person specification and show how you meet these requirements.  Whether answering competency style questions or questions directly related to the job, the vast majority of application forms want you to answer by giving specific examples.

Many organisations will provide a word count limit. It is vital to ensure your answers fall within any word count limits as failing to do this might see your application rejected and all your hours of hard work dismissed out of hand. Always save your work regularly. If you use Word regularly you may find it easier to write your answers in Word and then copy and paste the answers online. Find a process that works for you and offers maximum security from losing any of your work.

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