An online job application form needs only a few things: contact details, a resume upload, work eligibility, availability and two or three questions about the role. You can build one free in Google Forms in 20 minutes, add it to your own website, or use an ATS that creates a form for every job and tracks applicants automatically. What matters more than the tool is asking the right questions and avoiding the ones you should not ask.
This guide gives you a field-by-field job application form template you can copy, a list of questions to leave out, and three ways to put the form online. We make one of the options, the Hiring template in KissMySkills AI Recruiting, which creates a public application form per job. We say plainly when Google Forms or your website is the better choice. This is general information, not legal advice; employment rules vary by state.
What to include in a job application form
Keep the form short. Every extra field lowers the number of people who finish it, especially on a phone. A good online employment application form has:
- Contact details: full name, email, phone, city and state (not full street address at this stage).
- Resume upload (PDF or Word), with an optional LinkedIn or portfolio link.
- Work eligibility: "Are you legally authorized to work in the US?" and, if relevant, "Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship?"
- Availability: earliest start date, and schedule (full-time, part-time, weekends) if it matters.
- Role-specific requirements: only genuine must-haves, such as "Do you hold a valid driver's license?" for a delivery role.
- Two or three short questions about the job: "Tell us about a time you handled an upset customer" works better than "Why do you want this job?"
- How they heard about the role, so you know which channel works.
- Consent line confirming the information is accurate and explaining how you will use and store their data.
Questions you should not ask
Some questions expose you to discrimination claims, and some are banned outright in certain states or cities. Leave these out of any job application form:
- Age or date of birth (you can ask "Are you 18 or older?" if the role requires it).
- Marital status, children, pregnancy or family plans.
- Religion, race, national origin, or citizenship country (ask about work authorization instead).
- Disability or health conditions (you can ask whether they can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without accommodation).
- Salary history. Many states and cities ban asking about past pay. Ask about pay expectations instead.
- Criminal history on the initial form in places with "ban the box" laws, which cover many states and cities for at least some employers.
- Photos of the applicant.
If you hire in several states, check each one's rules, or ask an employment lawyer to review the form once. That one review is cheaper than a claim.
Free template (copy-paste)
Copy this into Google Forms, your website builder, or any form tool. Mark the starred fields as required.
- Full name *
- Email *
- Phone *
- City and state *
- Upload your resume (PDF or Word) *
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio link
- Are you legally authorized to work in the US? (Yes / No) *
- Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship? (Yes / No) *
- Are you 18 or older? (Yes / No), only if the role requires it
- Earliest start date *
- Which schedule are you looking for? (Full-time / Part-time / Either) *
- [Role must-have] For example: Do you have a valid driver's license? (Yes / No)
- Tell us about a time you [core task of the role]. (3–5 sentences) *
- What pay range are you looking for?
- How did you hear about this job?
- I confirm the information above is accurate, and I agree that [Company] may store my application for [X months] to consider me for this and similar roles. *
Pair it with a clear job description; our guide on how to write a job description has templates.
Option 1: Google Forms
Here is how to create a Google Form for a job application:
- Go to Google Forms and start a blank form. Name it "[Job title] application".
- Add a short-answer question for each text field in the template, and multiple-choice questions for the yes/no fields.
- Add a "File upload" question for the resume and limit it to PDF and document files.
- In the Responses tab, link the form to a Google Sheet.
- In the Sheet, add a "Stage" column (New, Screen, Interview, Offer, Rejected) and a "Notes" column.
- Click Send, copy the link, and share it on your job post.
Where Google Forms wins: it is free, fast and fine for one job. Where it falls short: file-upload questions require applicants to sign in to a Google account, which some candidates will not do; there are no automatic replies beyond a confirmation message; and the Sheet becomes hard to manage past about 50 applicants.
Option 2: your website (Wix, WordPress)
If you want applicants to apply on your own site, use your website builder's form tool.
- Wix: to add a job application to a Wix website, add a form element to a "Careers" page, include a file-upload field for resumes, and set where submissions are sent. Check your Wix plan's limits on form submissions and file storage.
- WordPress: use a form plugin that supports file uploads, and store submissions somewhere secure rather than only in email.
Where websites win: the form sits on your own brand, which builds trust and keeps candidates on your site. Where they fall short: most website forms only send an email or store a list. Screening and tracking are still up to you.
Option 3: an ATS application form
An applicant tracking system creates the form for you as part of each job, and every application becomes a candidate record in a pipeline. Larger ATSs such as Workable, Greenhouse or BambooHR add job-board distribution, branded careers pages and compliance features like voluntary EEO surveys, which matter if you are a federal contractor or a larger employer.
In KissMySkills Hiring, each job gets a public job page with an application form. Applications land on your hiring board (Applied, Screen, Interview, Offer) as candidate cards, and your own Claude or ChatGPT, connected through the KissMySkills connector, reads each CV and gives a fit score with the reasons plus suggested interview questions. The free plan covers up to 300 records in AI CRM (candidates count toward this limit), 1 user and unlimited job posts. Once the limit is reached, the forms stop accepting new applications until you upgrade; the All-Access subscription at $15 a month or $129 a year removes the record limit. What it does not do: post to job boards for you or run EEO surveys.
| Option | Cost | Setup time | Resume upload | Auto-screening | Candidate tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Forms + Sheets | Free | About 20 minutes | Yes (applicant must sign in to Google) | No | Manual, in a Sheet |
| Your website (Wix, WordPress) | Included in your site plan or plugin | 30–60 minutes | Yes, with a file-upload field | No | Email or a submissions list |
| Large ATS (Workable, BambooHR, etc.) | Paid plans | Hours to days | Yes | Varies; often a paid add-on | Full pipeline, plus compliance features |
| KissMySkills Hiring | Free (300 AI CRM records incl. candidates, 1 user), then $15/month | Minutes per job | Yes | Yes, your Claude or ChatGPT scores fit with reasons | Hiring board with stages |
After they apply: screening and replies
The form is the easy part. What candidates remember is what happens next:
- Confirm receipt immediately, with a line on when they will hear back.
- Screen against three must-haves you wrote down before the job went live. With a handful of applicants, read every one. With dozens, let AI do a first pass and read the top group yourself. Our guides on using Claude to screen resumes and the AI candidate screening agent show how to keep it consistent.
- Reply to everyone within a week, including a short, polite no.
- Delete data you do not need after the period you stated on the form.
FAQ
How to create a job application form?
List the fields you need (contact details, resume upload, work authorization, availability, two or three role questions and a consent line), leave out protected topics such as age, marital status or salary history, then build it in Google Forms, your website builder, or an ATS that creates a form for each job.
How to create a Google Form for a job application?
Start a blank Google Form, add short-answer and multiple-choice questions from a template, add a File upload question for resumes, link responses to a Google Sheet, add a Stage column to track candidates, and share the form link in your job post. Note that file uploads require applicants to sign in to Google.
How to make a job application?
For employers: write the job description, create an application form with only the fields you need, publish the link on your website and job boards, and track every applicant in one place. For job seekers: tailor your resume to the posting and answer every screening question fully.
How to add a job application to a Wix website?
Create a Careers page, add a Wix form element with your application fields and a file-upload field for resumes, set where submissions go, and link the page from your job posts. Check your Wix plan's limits on submissions and file storage.
Summary
An online job application form should be short, ask only what you need, and avoid protected topics. Google Forms is free and fine for one job, your website keeps applicants on your brand, and an ATS adds tracking and screening. Get a public application form for every job, plus AI screening, in KissMySkills Hiring, free for up to 300 records in AI CRM (candidates count toward this limit) and 1 user at crm.kissmyskills.com.
