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What employers ask on application forms
Before you start an application, you can know most of the questions. We read the forms for 17,965 job postings at 4,870 employers (Greenhouse postings in the 100 largest US cities, read 2026-10-09) and counted what they ask.
The short answer
- Nearly every form asks for your name, email, phone and resume. 83.8% also ask for a cover letter (as a file or text).
- 78% ask for a LinkedIn profile and 75.1% ask about visa sponsorship.
- 29.7% ask for a salary expectation, so decide your number before you start.
- 9.4% include an AI-use question or policy, and 6.2% ask about your use of AI tools. These are new and the wording varies a lot.
How often each question appears
| Question | Share of postings | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn profile | 78% | A link to your LinkedIn page. Keep it current: employers often open it before they open your resume. |
| Visa sponsorship | 75.1% | Whether you will now or later need an employer to sponsor your right to work. The question appears on forms for jobs of every kind. |
| Work authorization | 62.6% | Whether you are legally allowed to work in the United States. Answer exactly as the form asks. |
| Equal-opportunity self-identification | 58.7% | Voluntary demographic questions that many US employers must collect. Most forms say plainly whether answering is voluntary; read the label on the form. |
| How you heard about the job | 35.4% | A free-choice question about the source. Pick the real one; employers use it to see which channels work. |
| Salary expectation | 29.7% | A number or a range. See how to read a posted pay range before you answer, and check whether the posting already lists one. |
| Demographic survey | 21.1% | Voluntary surveys about gender, race, veteran status or disability. Read the form's wording on whether it is optional. |
| Relocation | 19.3% | Whether you are willing to move. Answer for the location in the posting, not in general. |
| Previous employee | 17.1% | Whether you have worked for the company before, sometimes including contract work. |
| Start date | 11.1% | When you could begin. A realistic notice period is a normal answer. |
| AI-use policy for applications | 9.4% | A statement or question about whether you used AI tools in your application. Read the employer's policy; wording varies. |
| Years of experience | 9.1% | A number tied to a skill or tool. Count the way the form asks and be consistent with your resume. |
| Experience with AI tools | 6.2% | A question about which AI tools you use at work and how. |
| Why this company | 3.9% | A short free-text answer or a cover letter. Specific beats general. |
Counted on the 17,965 postings we could read. Questions are grouped by meaning, so "Are you authorized to work in the US?" and similar wordings count together. Only the question text is read; no applicant data is involved.
Prepare once, reuse everywhere
- Write down your answers to the fact questions (work authorization, sponsorship, notice period, location, salary range) so every form gets the same, true answer.
- Keep a short "why this company" paragraph you can adapt, and a current LinkedIn link.
- Read the label on any demographic or equal-opportunity question: most forms say whether it is optional.
- Forms differ by employer, so check each one before you submit. You press Submit.
Related
- How to read a posted pay range
- Industries: jobs, pay and hiring
- Save your answers once in Second Summit (free during beta)
Source: Second Summit, October 2026, from the open postings on employers' own career pages. Pay is the listed salary range, counted at its midpoint. Methodology
Browse open jobs by role and city, with the pay employers list and who is hiring.