Criminal history questions on applications: what to answer
When employers can ask about a conviction, what the checkbox does with your answer, and the exact wording to type - including for a Warehouse Associate role.
Nathan Cole · · 10 minHeroApply Blog
Screening questions
What each application question is really checking, and what to write.
Nathan Cole · · 10 min
What is your notice period? What happens to your answer
Give a date or a number of weeks, not a paragraph. Here is which field your notice period lands in, when it can reject you, and what to write.
Nathan Cole · · 9 min
"Why do you want to work here?" on an application form
The free-text box cannot auto-reject you in Greenhouse or Workday. Here is what it is really checking, and a four-sentence answer you can adapt.
Nathan Cole · · 9 min
Voluntary self-identification questions: should you answer?
The race, gender, veteran and disability block at the end of a job application - who sees it, what it feeds, and why declining is not a neutral answer.
Nathan Cole · · 9 min
"Have you worked for this company before?" - what to answer
The former-employee question is a lookup, not a character test. Here is what the ATS does with your yes, and the two sentences to write next to it.
Nathan Cole · · 9 min
"Desired salary" on an application: what to put in 2026
Put a range, not "negotiable". What the desired salary field does inside Workday and Greenhouse, and how to set the number from public BLS wage data.
Nathan Cole · · 9 min
Will you now or in the future require sponsorship? How to answer
Answer it from your immigration status, not your plans. What each answer does inside the form, what it costs the employer, and the edge cases.
Nathan Cole · · 10 min
How to answer "Are you authorized to work in the US?"
The application asks two different questions about your status, and people answer them as if they were one. Here is what each is checking and what to put.
Nathan Cole · · 6 minThe best of the blog, once a week
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