Determining the Information You Need

The two most common ways to get information from job applicants are:

• Applications chosen or designed by you. These may limit the applicants in telling you all that they want to tell you. To have one that is truly customized to your needs, you have to design it yourself. If you have only a few applicants for one job every five years, that can be a lot of trouble. On the other hand, applications make sure that you get all of the information that you need and allow you to tell the applicants some things about your company.
• Resumes are completely applicant-driven. The applicants give you the information that they want you to have, and that's all. The advantage is that you don't have to do anything in order to get them except ask for them. No time is spent designing them, no money is spent printing them, and there are no legal headaches about the fairness of questions.

Other types of application materials might be requested, depending on the job. For example, it would be appropriate to ask an artist to present a portfolio of his or her work