Application Blank
This is a highly structured form in which the questions are standardised and determined in advance. This main items of information requested in application blanks vary considerably from one organisation to another and from job to job.
Special requirements, if any for a job, are asked in a specific form of the blank. These application blanks serve the dual purpose of providing preliminary information about the candidate and aids the interviewer in the interview by opening up areas of interest and discussion.
In practice the use of the application blank usually falls short of its promise; Firstly because the applicants exaggerate their capabilities and secondly, wrong or useless questions are asked. The personnel men, therefore, fail to evaluate correctly the information given in the blanks.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The majority of items contained in the application blank can be answered by a short one or two-word statement or a simple yes or no, but due to structural defects it becomes difficult for the candidates to understand them properly.
To do these things, it requires a study of the particular situation, the validity of themes to be included, what items should be included and what weightage be assigned to them in an application blank.
Despite the disparities in application blanks from one organisation to another one cannot avoid it and it is widely used for personnel selection.