This page collects every headline figure from our October 2026 job-application research in one place, each linked to the study it comes from. The data is a snapshot taken on 12 October 2026 from the public job boards of Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby: 94,895 open postings at 1,689 employers, and 9,401 application forms from 780 employers. You are free to cite any figure with a link to its study; the data is CC BY 4.0.
Application forms
From What Job Applications Actually Ask: 9,401 Forms Analyzed:
- The median form asks 10 questions beyond name, email and phone, and 6 are required. 15.2% of forms ask 16 or more.
- 64.1% of employers ask about visa sponsorship and 62.4% require an answer (70.0% on US roles). 56.5% ask about work authorization (how to answer sponsorship questions).
- 82.7% ask for a LinkedIn URL (20.2% require it). 45.1% ask for a portfolio or website (2.5% require it).
- 32.1% include an open-ended written question other than the cover letter.
Cover letters
From Do Employers Still Require Cover Letters?:
- 83.5% of employers include a cover-letter field, but only 3.0% require one.
- By job family, the required rate runs from 0.8% (design) to 3.6% (operations and finance). Internships: 4.4%.
- 5.6% of employers require a “why do you want to work here” answer instead, nearly twice the share that require a letter (why us study).
Salary questions and pay transparency
- 31.7% of employers ask about pay on the application form and 28.0% require an answer. 86.5% of expectation questions are free-text boxes, and only 48.9% of employers who ask also publish their own range (salary expectations study).
- 70.4% of US postings state pay: 81.7% in the 13 states plus DC with pay-range laws, against 39.9% elsewhere. Highest: Washington 89.5%. Lowest: Louisiana 10.7% (pay by state).
- The median posted salary range is 33.9% wide from bottom to top, and 22.5% of ranges are wider than 50% (range width study).
Applications in India
From Expected CTC and Notice Period (295 forms for jobs in India, 91 employers):
- 31.9% of employers hiring in India ask your notice period on the form, against 6.3% outside India. 98% of those questions are mandatory.
- 17.6% ask your current pay, against 2.6% outside India. Expected pay is asked at about the same rate everywhere (34.1% against 35.1%).
Job postings
- The median open posting is 72 days old. 43.1% are older than 90 days, 10.3% older than a year, and only 7.9% are under a week old (how long job postings stay up).
- 29.8% of entry-level postings ask for 1+ years of experience and 14.9% for 2+. Titles with “new grad” ask for 2+ years only 2.3% of the time (entry-level study).
- 22.3% of postings are remote, 27.5% hybrid and 50.2% on-site. Hybrid postings that state office days most often say three (remote vs hybrid study).
AI and self-identification questions
- Of 780 employers, 16 (2.1%) restrict candidates' use of AI on the application or in interviews, 66 (8.5%) disclose AI screening of applications, and 7 include questions designed to catch AI agents (AI on applications study).
- 56.9% of employers include self-identification questions. Of those, 98.3% offer a decline option on every question (EEO study).
About the data
All figures come from one snapshot taken on 12 October 2026 through the public job-board APIs of Greenhouse (which returns full application forms), Lever and Ashby. No logins, scraping of private pages or candidate data were used. Employer lists come from public US early-career job lists, so the sample leans toward US technology employers and early-career hiring, and it does not include Workday, iCIMS or Naukri. Form figures are employer-weighted, so a company posting hundreds of jobs counts once. Each linked study states its own method and limits. Raw tables are downloadable from /research/ats-2026/ under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on a typical job application?
The median application form asks 10 questions beyond name, email and phone, and 6 of them are required, based on 9,401 Greenhouse forms from 780 employers in October 2026.
What percentage of employers require a cover letter?
3.0%. 83.5% of employers include a cover-letter field on the form, but only 3.0% make it required.
How many job applications ask about visa sponsorship?
64.1% of employers ask about visa sponsorship on the application form and 62.4% require an answer, rising to 70.0% for US-based roles.
How long do job postings stay up?
The median open job posting had been up for 72 days. 43.1% were older than 90 days and 10.3% older than one year, across 94,895 open postings.
Can I cite these statistics?
Yes. The data is published under CC BY 4.0. Cite ApplyCandid and link to the study the figure comes from.
Ten questions per form. Answer them once.
ApplyCandid fills the standard fields from your saved profile and drafts the open-ended answers from your real resume and the job description.