Application forms guide

Modified on Thu, 01 Feb 2024 at 09:49 AM

What's included in this guide:


Part 1: Quick Guide

Application Forms can be created or maintained within the Application Templates section of Settings.


Application Templates come with a variety of standard questions built in which can be used, edited, or deactivated. Users can create their own bespoke questions within Custom Fields.

 

There is no limit on the number of Application Templates that can be created. They can be named anything you like and contain different contents for different purposes.

 

Each Application Template is made up of sections. Choose whether or not to display a section, rename a section or edit contents within a section.



With each section the contents can be edited as follows:

  • Make questions visible or hide them
  • Make questions mandatory
  • Change the question text
  • Add guidance or tips to precede the question
  • Add bespoke questions (Custom Fields)


Each Application Template can be previewed before use.

Editing Application Templates

Modifying existing application templates will affect historical candidate data associated with candidates who have applied using those templates.

 

For example, if a question was visible to candidates but is later disabled then the candidate responses to this question will no longer be visible in their application form.

 

We highly recommend utilising the 'copy' function to create a new template instead of modifying existing ones for data integrity and consistency.


Part 2: Application Template sections explained

Personal Details

Contains personal and identifiable data taken as part of registering for an account with Jobtrain. Name, address and email fields must be used.

  • When an agency submits a candidate there is an additional email field for the Recruitment Consultant’s email address. This is is so they will receive copies of any communications sent to the candidate.
  • To report on where candidates heard about this vacancy, you must use the question "Where did you hear about this vacancy?". The drop-down options available for this question can be found and amended in System Settings > General Setup > Adverts.
  • When answered 'Yes', the Redeployment question will display the redeployment icon (a red ‘R’) against the candidate’s name in the list of candidates against the job
  • When answered 'Yes' to the Red Circle question, a red ‘RC’ icon will be displayed against the candidate’s name in the list of candidates against the job. Red Circle refers to the process of redeployees being ring-fenced, but the terminology or text can be changed
  • Custom Fields can be added to in this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to in this section

Education

Included are three different sub-sections:

  1. University section
  2. School College section 
  3. Additional Qualifications section
  • Fields labelled as such will only work within the corresponding sub-section. Custom fields must also be assigned to a sub-section
  • Custom Fields can be added to this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section

Employment

This section asks a candidate to complete employers/employment history one by one. They should add one set of information and save. Candidates will then be given the option to add more entries as required.

  • Custom Fields can be added to this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section

References

This section works in the same way as Employment. Candidates should add each referee one by one.

  • Custom Fields can be added to this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section


Did you know? You can now specify the minimum number of references you require from candidates during the application process. Please see below details of how to do so:


Specifying the minimum number of references required

You can specify the minimum number of references required from candidates during the application process for each different candidate portal.

 

Go to Settings > System Settings > System Customisation

 

Within System Customisation navigate to the Other tab and scroll down to Reference Settings. 

 

Select from the dropdown menu the minimum number of references required from candidates for each portal and then Save.


Once you have made this change, any candidates who apply moving forwards will be required to add the minimum number of references.


Additional Information

All questions in this section are free text and can be repurposed.

  • Custom Fields can be added to this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section


CV 

This section allows candidates to upload their CV.

  • An option is available to invite candidates to upload a second document - a cover letter. If this option is not visible, please contact our helpdesk to have this activated
  • CVs are subject to a 1MB limit (approx. 100 pages in Word), and covering letters are subject to a 0.5MB limit 
  • Custom Fields cannot be added in this section
  • Introductory guidance cannot be added to this section


Multi-Document uploads

This section allows candidates to upload additional documents to their application, e.g. proof of qualifications/membership certificates, etc.

  • This is an additional feature. Please contact us if you would like to explore this feature further


Equal Opportunities

  • When answered 'Yes' to the disability question, the disability icon will be displayed against the candidate’s name in the list of candidates against the job
  • When answered 'Yes', the Disability Confident/Two Ticks question will place a Two Ticks icon against the candidate’s name in the list of candidates against a job
  • Custom Fields can be added to this section.
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section


CRB 

This section supports an integration with a DBS checking service provider, such as First Advantage.

  • When answered 'Yes' to the Disclosure question, a CC (‘Criminal Convictions’) icon will be displayed against the candidate’s name in the list of candidates against a job
  • As this is an additional feature, please contact us if you would like to explore this feature further
  • Custom Fields can be added to this section
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section


Declaration

This section is always the last page on a candidate’s application form and is required to be able to submit their application.

  • Line Manager reference feature:
    Within this section, you can inform an internal candidate’s line manager of their application. After a candidate completes this, Jobtrain will generate an email to their line manager advising they have applied for an internal role
  • Please contact us if you would like to amend the declaration wording or to activate the Line Manager Reference feature
  • Introductory guidance can be added to this section


Part 3: Custom Fields

If the question you want to add to the application form doesn’t already exist in Jobtrain, the question can be added as a Custom Field instead.


Custom Fields can be recognised by a delete icon and the Custom label - they also do not include an instructions box. See below:

  • To create a Custom Field, select System Settings > Application Templates > Custom Fields and choose New Custom Field.


  • Field No is automatically generated and is the custom field number.
  • Caption: add your question text here
  • Type: choose the type of question from the list: 
  • Multi-choice (One Answer)
  • Multi-choice (More than One Answer)
  • Limited text (max 50 characters) 
  • Free text 
  • Dropdown list 
  • Header
  • Mandatory: select 'yes' to make this question mandatory.

    Education tab: if you intend to use the field within the Education section of an application form, you must assign it to the relevant education sub-tab. Once used, the field must remain assigned to the same education sub-tab. If it’s changed the field will break. 
The system does not accept brackets or semi colons in this section.
  • Field Instructions: candidate instructions can be added here.


When all information is completed, press Save. The Education drop-down question and custom field value options tabs will now be displayed.

  • If this custom question is to be used in the Education section, choose which education section you would like it to appear in
  • If you have chosen a multiple-choice question type, enter the dropdown/multi-choice options on the custom field tab (NB: you can add up to 12).

When all information is completed, press Save and close the page. Repeat these steps until all required custom questions have been built.


You can only use the same custom field once in the same application form.

If the same custom field is used more than once, this can cause issues for candidates when applying, even if the field is toggled off.
Once a custom field has been added in an application template, it is removed from the custom field list to prevent its reuse within the same template.


Adding a custom field into an application form

  • Go to the relevant section on the application template and use the search bar to find the custom field you wish to add
  • Once the custom field you are looking for appears in the list simply drag and drop the field to where you would like it to appear in the form and check that visible is set to Yes


Custom Fields can be reported on in the Advanced Insights feature (Business Intelligence), however you will need to follow a slightly different process to add them into the report.

Please contact our support team or your Client Success Consultant if you require custom fields adding to your Advanced Insights reporting feature.


Part 4: Two-Stage Application Forms

2nd Stage application forms are very useful for collecting further information from candidates after their initial application. 


Two-stage Application Forms are created in the same way as standard application forms, however, there are some key points to consider:

  1. Application form sections can only be used once in an application process. I.e. if you have used Personal Details, CV and Additional Information in your stage one form, you cannot switch on the Additional Information section again for stage two
  2. When you’re setting up a new two-stage application form, we recommended creating all the questions in one application form then copy the application form and re-label the copied version to 2nd stage application form. The application form data will then be consistent through both forms and sections can be switched on/off as required in each stage application form.


Attaching Two-Stage Application Forms to Jobs

Go to the Assessment section within the job.


  • Attach Stage one application form against External and if required, Internal form sections
  • Then attach stage two application form against 2nd Stage Form for External and if required, 2nd Stage Form – Internal for Internal form sections
As internal and external candidates can go through different application routes, it’s not necessary for both categories of candidate to go through two stages. One can complete the standard 1 stage process and the other can complete 2 stages.

 

FAQs

Do I build my Indeed Direct Apply Application templates here? 

No, as there can only be one Indeed Direct Apply Application form this is configured in a separate section. Please review the Indeed Direct Apply User Guide which contains more information on this.

 

Can I invite candidates who have used a Direct apply method to complete a 2nd stage application? 

Yes, you can and these are a great way of capturing additional information for these candidates. They will be asked to complete the External 2nd Stage Application form.



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