Applying to a role#
Applying takes two parts: a form on Google's side, and one question on ours. The question exists because a Google Form cannot tell us whether you pressed submit.
What happens when you press Apply#
- The site records that you started an application. From this moment the role appears on My applications as Started.
- The application form opens in a new tab, in Google Forms, with the details you have already given us filled in. That is usually your name and email, and your phone number where a form asks for one.
- The portal tab stays where it is and shows a short panel asking you to come back to it when you are done.
Leave the portal tab open. It is where the second half happens.
note
If your browser blocks the new tab, nothing has gone wrong. The panel says so and gives you a button that opens the form properly.
The question you come back to#
When you return to the portal tab, it asks two things. Neither is required and closing the panel is fine.
Rate this job posting. Optional, out of five. It rates how well the posting was written, not the role itself and not your chances. It is what tells the team that a posting is confusing before twenty people bounce off it.
Have you applied for this role? Two answers:
- Yes, I applied. The application is recorded as submitted, dated today. It moves to Applied on your applications page, and the three month wait before you can apply to that same role again starts here. See Applying again.
- No, not yet. Nothing is locked. The role stays open to you and the question is asked again next time.
Closing the panel without answering is read as not yet. The question does not vanish. It waits on your Outstanding tasks page as one question about that role. The Apply button on the posting turns into a prompt to answer it. If nobody ever answers, it is given up on automatically after fourteen days.
While a question about a role is unanswered, you cannot start a second application to that same role. That is what the prompt on the button means. Only answering it clears the way.
What we keep, and what we do not#
- We do not store your answers. Everything you type into the application form goes to Google and stays with Google.
- This site accepts no file uploads. If a role needs to see your work, its form will say how.
- We keep that you applied, and when. That is the row on your applications page, and it is what the team works from.
Withdrawing an application, or deleting your account, does not delete what you sent through a Google form. Ask the team if you need those removed.
When the Apply button says something else#
The button is honest about the state you are in, and there are eight of them.
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Apply for this role | The ordinary case. |
| You have an unanswered question about this application | Answer the question first. It reopens the panel. |
| Applied on 4 March. You can apply again from 4 June | You applied, and the three month wait is running. |
| You have been accepted for this role | You have it. This one never becomes a date. |
| No longer accepting applications | The posting has closed or passed its closing date. |
| Applications are paused across the site at the moment | A site wide switch is off. Nothing is wrong with the posting. |
| This role has no application form set up yet | Ours to fix, not yours. Tell the team if it stays that way. |
| Your answer is saved and will be sent when you are back online | You answered with no connection. See below. |
Applying offline#
You cannot apply offline. The application is a Google Form and it needs a connection, and the site says exactly that instead of failing quietly.
What does work offline is the panel you come back to. A rating and a Yes or No answered with no connection are saved on your device and sent by themselves when the connection returns.
A queued answer is waiting, not done. It does not count as an application and it does not start the three month wait until the server has confirmed it. The Apply control says it is waiting to be sent, which is the truth of it.
Next#
- Applying again, and how the three month wait works.
- Your applications, and what each status means.