Customizing the application form

Application forms are attached to specific jobs you’re recruiting for. In the Application Form tab of the job editor, you can customize the form to suit the job's needs.

Adjusting default settings

Decide on the information you require from candidates and choose to make the request:

• Mandatory: candidates must include this piece of information in order to submit the application
• Optional: the field will be included on the form, but supplying this information is not a requirement
• Off: the field will be removed from your application form

If you'll keep these settings consistent as you create more jobs, check the box at the bottom of the page to "Keep this setup for my future jobs".

The Mandatory/Optional/Off settings that you've selected will automatically be selected when you create jobs after this.

Adding custom questions

The second half of the application form provides the option to add custom questions. Candidate answers to custom questions can be viewed by all users (except External Recruiters) in a separate section at the bottom of their profile.

💡Use custom fields to set visibility restrictions for sensitive information e.g., salary expectations. 

Custom questions are not automatically carried over as you create new jobs in Workable. However, if you clone a job, the entire application form, including any custom questions, will be copied to the clone.

Additionally, you can easily retrieve questions you've used in the past by entering a keyword from the question in the search field to see a list of relevant questions. Select the question to add it immediately. Here, we've typed "experience," and all our previous questions containing that word appear.

Choose "Use requirements as questions" to add all the requirements listed in the job description as Yes/No questions. Requirements must be listed in a bullet point format in the job editor for this option to appear.

What the candidates see 

A preview of your application form is shown to the right of the editor. The default view is on mobile, but you can switch to the desktop mode by clicking the dedicated button. 

Reporting and filtering on application question answers

Data from application answers are available:

• To view in a separate section at the bottom of the candidate profile. To see answers immediately without scrolling, you can collapse the 'Details' section of the Profile by clicking .

• To filter candidates based on them in the pipeline view.

• To view and export via the Candidate details report. Make sure you tick 'Answers' under the Customize data list and export to CSV for further analysis. Questions and answers will be exported in their own columns.

FAQs

Why do candidates skip mandatory fields/questions in the application form?

We automatically use 'Indeed Apply' (one-click apply) which means that candidates apply with their Indeed Profile. This has some differences from the Workable application; the cover letter, phone number, address, and photo are always optional fields, even if you set them as mandatory in the application form setup. 

For this reason, you may find applications without the above info although you did define them as a mandatory requirement. If you require these fields from applicants, you can:

• Include them as additional application questions instead (and toggle them off in the “Personal Information” section). 
• Contact our Support team to remove Indeed Apply from your account. If you don't use Indeed Apply, candidates will see a button to "Apply on company's website" for all your posts and will be redirected to Workable to apply there instead.