Online forms are everywhere: job applications, course registrations, scholarship applications, NGO surveys and customer orders. Field officer and enumerator jobs with NGOs in northern Ghana often involve collecting survey answers on a phone or tablet using apps such as Google Forms or Kobo Collect. Office and customer service jobs involve entering customer details into systems. In every case, accuracy is the skill employers want.
Parts of a form
Most forms use the same few types of question:
- Short answer boxes for things like your name or phone number.
- Long answer boxes for a few sentences, such as "Why do you want to join?"
- Multiple choice, where you tap or click one round button.
- Checkboxes, where you can tick more than one square.
- Dropdowns, where you tap or click and choose from a list.
- Date pickers and file upload buttons.
A small red star (an asterisk) next to a question usually means it is required. The form will not submit until you answer it.
Filling in a form well
- Read the whole form first. Scroll to the end so you know what you will need, such as a document to upload.