Applied for a job, how to reject request to full in an application form? [closed]

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I got approached to apply for a job by a recruiter, two people that have previously worked at this company have told me that it's a terrible place to work so I was a bit hesitant but the recruiter convinced me to have a 20 minute conversation with the head of IT over the phone.

After speaking to them I got good feedback and they were apprantly really excited about bringing me in for a face to face interview.

However they want me to fill in an application form. This form is pretty lengthy and most of the information is already on my resume, the stuff that isn't is just standard interview questions, e.g tell me about a time you solved a complex problem. But the space provided to write the answer is unreasonabley small.

To be honest I think it's a waste of my time and I don't want to do it. I'm not really that enthusiastic about the job but would still be interested in going to the interview to see what they're all about.

What would be the best way to communicate to them that I am not going to fill their form in and if they still wanted me to go for an interview I would, but if it was a deal breaker for them then I'm ok with that as well ?

manpreet 2 years ago

You have 2 reasonable options:

Fill in the form

They probably have some software that files and orders applications by the information given in the form. If you want to be considered as an enthusiastic applicant, you have to make their life as easy as possible. They don't care how complicated your life gets or how much of your time they waste.

If you honestly want that job, fill in the form.

Tell them you're not interested anymore

This seems like the honest approach in your case. You don't waste your own time and you stop wasting theirs. Tell them in a clear but friendly way that you will not fill in the form because you don't really want the job. Remember that you already got positive feedback.

Your way: Look lazy and petulant

If you tell them you want the job but won't fill in the form because you already gave them all information, you cause a real headache for someone. Chances are you'll be dismissed without further thought or some poor office worker has to read your resume and extract the information for you. Keeping in mind that you're not really interested in the job anymore, suddenly you are the one wasting someones time. Really nice.