Do You Speak Swahili? Tailor each employment application to the specific job.

What insight can you glean from a completed job application? Notmuch, because most are too general for any true insight. Theytypically collect only basic information, such as employment,education, salary history and job responsibilities.

A better way to document a person's skills is to createapplications tailored for particular positions. The advantage ofhaving applications specifically for technical positions isobvious, but you can even benefit by getting specific with nontechpositions.

"Job-specific applications lay the basis for what the basicqualifications and job expectations are," says Frank Connolly,a labor and employment attorney at Piper Marbury Rudnick &Wolfe's Reston, Virginia, office. These applications alsoreveal how well potential employees fit those requirements.