The 20 fields every ATS asks for.
This dictionary is built from observed field labels across Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS, Taleo, and SmartRecruiters. Field labels are employer-configurable, so the exact wording varies — but the underlying data each field collects is consistent.
| # | Field | Category | Required? | Knockout? | Control | Common confusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contact | Always | No | Text input | Resume parser may pre-fill; check for typos. | |
| 2 | First / given name | Contact | Always | No | Text input | Workday splits first/last; Lever often asks for full name only. |
| 3 | Last / family name | Contact | Always | No | Text input | Same as above. |
| 4 | Phone | Contact | Usually | No | Tel input | Workday may add Phone Type and country-format rules. |
| 5 | Address / location | Contact | Often | No | Text / dropdown / geocode | SmartRecruiters uses geocoded dropdown; Ashby asks for Candidate location. Geocoded dropdowns reject valid city names. |
| 6 | Resume / CV upload | Resume | Usually | No | File input | Greenhouse upload max ~100 MB, parse max ~2.5 MB. Parser may fail on two-column or image-based PDFs. |
| 7 | Cover letter | Resume | Usually optional | No | File or textarea | Additional information is not always a cover letter. Do not confuse the two. |
| 8 | Links / LinkedIn / portfolio | Links | Optional | No | Text input | Lever has dedicated link fields; Workday may collapse them into Websites. |
| 9 | Employer / company (work history) | Experience | Long forms | No | Text input | Re-typed even after resume upload on Workday/Taleo. Parser often misplaces. |
| 10 | Job title (work history) | Experience | Long forms | No | Text input | Parser often misplaces; dates detach on Workday. |
| 11 | Work dates | Experience | Long forms | No | Date picker / text | Strict MM/YYYY expectations. Present/Current handling varies by ATS. |
| 12 | Work description | Experience | Optional | No | Textarea | Used for keyword matching, especially Taleo. Generic descriptions hurt ranking. |
| 13 | School / institution | Education | Long forms | No | Dropdown / text | Ashby standardizes school names at submit. Misspellings fail. |
| 14 | Degree / field of study | Education | Varies | No | Dropdown / text | Workday/Ashby use dropdowns; misspellings fail. |
| 15 | Graduation date | Education | Often optional | No | Date picker | Some jurisdictions restrict asking education dates (age discrimination proxy). |
| 16 | GPA | Education | Optional / rare | No | Text input | Mostly entry-level only. Leave blank if >3 years out of school. |
| 17 | Work authorization | Eligibility | Usually | Yes | Radio / dropdown | Wording flips the honest answer for OPT/STEM OPT holders. See the sponsorship guide. |
| 18 | Visa / sponsorship | Eligibility | Usually | Yes | Radio / dropdown | Now or in the future collapses multi-timeline reality into a binary. See the sponsorship guide. |
| 19 | Salary expectations | Screening | Varies | Yes | Text / number / dropdown | Optional vs numeric vs dropdown each need a different answer. $0 or 999 auto-rejects. See the salary guide. |
| 20 | EEO self-identification | Self-ID | Voluntary (legally) | No (by law) | Radio / dropdown | Voluntary-but-required paradox: form may block submit without a selection. Decline option not always visible. See the EEO guide. |
How many fields each ATS asks — and how long it takes.
The difference between a 30-second Easy Apply and a 35-minute Workday application is the number of fields. Here is the field count and typical fill time for each major ATS.
| ATS | Avg. fields | Pages | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Easy Apply | 4–12 | 1 | 30–60 sec |
| Indeed Quick Apply | 4–8 | 1 | ~45 sec |
| Lever | 8–20 | 1 | 4–7 min |
| Ashby | ~10 | 1 | 5–8 min |
| Greenhouse | 15–30 | 1–2 | 6–9 min |
| SmartRecruiters | 10–25 | 1–2 | 5–15 min |
| iCIMS | 15–40 | 2–4 + iForms | 10–20 min |
| Workday | 73 (57–89) | 5–7 wizard | 22–35 min |
| Taleo | 20–50+ | 5–7 | 25–45 min |
Workday averages 73 fields across a 5–7 page wizard. The same 15–20 core fields recur on every application, but Workday requires you to re-enter them because its parser often fails to extract them from your resume. Across a 100-application search, that repetition alone costs 25–40 hours of pure re-typing.
The most repeated fields — and why re-typing is the problem.
From first-party field notes on observed applications, these are the fields that recur most often. Each one is re-typed manually 86.7% of the time.
| Field | Share of applications |
|---|---|
| 60.0% | |
| Phone | 52.5% |
| Resume upload | 52.5% |
| Open questions | 42.5% |
| Family name | 37.5% |
| Given name | 32.5% |
| Salary expectations | 27.5% |
| Years of experience | 25.0% |
| Current compensation | 25.0% |
| Notice period | 25.0% |
Email appears on 60% of applications. Phone and resume upload on 52.5%. Open questions on 42.5%. These are the fields where autofill saves the most time — and where manual re-typing introduces the most errors.
Knockout fields: a wrong answer ends your application.
Three fields are knockout fields on most US applications: work authorization, visa sponsorship, and salary expectations. A wrong answer auto-rejects you instantly. Here is how each ATS implements the knockout mechanism.
| ATS | Knockout mechanism |
|---|---|
| Greenhouse | Auto-Reject rules on custom questions |
| Workday | Questionnaire answers map to calculated fields, then condition rules end the application |
| Lever | Automation workflows auto-archive an application when the answer meets a condition |
| iCIMS | Screening Questions Library has a Do Not Qualify checkbox per answer |
| Taleo | Disqualification Questions block processes the answer and can send the candidate to a modified thank-you page |
| SmartRecruiters | Per-question-set knock-out configuration on each answer |
Enhancv research (cited by Skillfuel, 2025) found that 92% of ATS rejections trace to eligibility knockout questions and required-field settings — not keyword filtering. A single visa/work-authorization question can filter out 30% of applicants instantly (Chief of Staff Asia, n=25 recruiters, 2025).
How to answer knockout fields
- Work authorization: Answer honestly. If you are on OPT/STEM OPT, you are authorized to work — but the wording matters. See the sponsorship guide.
- Visa sponsorship: "Now or in the future" is a binary question about a multi-timeline reality. Answer based on whether you will ever need sponsorship, not just today. See the sponsorship guide.
- Salary expectations: Research the market range first. Entering $0 or 999 auto-rejects. Entering a number outside the employer's budget band auto-rejects. See the salary expectations guide.
Fields that cause the most candidate errors.
Highest-friction fields
- Salary expectations — candidates do not know whether to leave it blank, enter a range, or a single number. Placeholders like $0 or 999 auto-reject.
- Work authorization / sponsorship — "now or in the future" forces a binary answer on a multi-timeline reality. OPT/STEM OPT holders get filtered as if they need sponsorship today.
- EEO self-identification — voluntary by law, but forms mark it required and may hide the decline option.
- Resume re-entry — uploading a resume then re-typing work history and education because the parser fails. Two-column resumes are flattened.
- Work history dates — parsers detach dates from titles. "Present" / "Current" handling varies by ATS.
- Additional information / Message to hiring manager — candidates confuse it with a cover letter or type something generic.
- Location / address — geocoded dropdowns reject valid city names. Workday requires Country before State format.
- How did you hear about us? — long dropdown, sometimes required, sometimes with no matching source.
New and emerging fields in 2025–2026.
| Field | What it collects |
|---|---|
| AI-use disclosure | Ontario (since Jan 1, 2026) and Illinois/Colorado require employers to disclose AI used to screen, assess, or select applicants. May appear as a posting notice or consent field. |
| Pay transparency / salary range | EU Pay Transparency Directive and US state laws (CA, CO, NY, WA, IL, MA) require posted ranges. ATS fields increasingly ask candidates to confirm expected compensation against the posted band. |
| Work-location preference | In-office / hybrid / remote, sometimes with conditional questions or location radius. See the RTO location fields guide. |
| Pronouns | Becoming a standard optional field on Lever and modern ATSs. |
| GDPR / privacy consent | Explicit consent to process and retain data, especially in Greenhouse (data_compliance) and SmartRecruiters APIs. |
How to answer each field category.
Contact info
- Keep a master profile with your exact name, email, phone, and location.
- Copy from the master profile, not from memory. Typos in email or phone are the most common reason a recruiter cannot reach you.
Work history and education
- Do not rely on the parser. Verify every employer, title, and date after upload.
- Use MM/YYYY format. For current roles, use "Present" only if the ATS accepts it; otherwise use the current month.
- Keep descriptions keyword-aligned with the JD — Taleo uses them for ranking.
Work eligibility (knockout fields)
- Answer honestly. A wrong answer to get past the filter creates legal and payroll problems later.
- See the sponsorship guide for scenario-specific answer scripts.
Screening questions
- Salary: research the range first. Use the salary picker for a defensible number.
- Start date: answer with your actual notice period, not "immediately" unless it is true.
- Relocation: answer honestly. A "Yes" to get past the filter wastes everyone's time.
EEO self-identification
- Legally voluntary. You can decline. If the form blocks submit without a selection, look for "Decline to self-identify" — it may be at the bottom of the dropdown.
- See the EEO self-identification guide for the full decision framework.
Sources and limitations.
Sources
- First-party field notes from observed applications across Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS, Taleo, SmartRecruiters.
- Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS, SmartRecruiters public API schemas and live career pages (2025–2026).
- Enhancv recruiter study (n=25, 2025) for knockout question prevalence.
- Skillfuel, citing Enhancv research, 2025, for the 92% ATS rejection statistic.
- Chief of Staff Asia (n=25 U.S. recruiters, Sept–Oct 2025) for the 30% visa filter statistic.
- Ontario AI disclosure law (Jan 1, 2026); Illinois, Colorado AI hiring laws.
- EU Pay Transparency Directive; CA SB 642, CO EPEWA, NY, WA, IL pay transparency laws.
Field labels are employer-configurable, so the exact wording varies by tenant. The field counts and fill times are from observed applications and third-party estimates, not from a comprehensive audit of every employer configuration. The 86.7% manual re-typing figure is from first-party field notes on a sample of observed applications, not from a randomized study. The knockout mechanisms are documented in ATS vendor help docs but may differ by employer configuration.