Sorry I've been gone so long.  There are now no boxes in my house and a whole new office! 

While I was gone I was having a discussion with a friend about application forms.  Some companies require application forms, and some done.  Local government is more likely to, small family firms less likely.  However, big corporates and moving down to medium sized corporates are increasingly using application forms.

In the company I work for, application forms are required for internal candidates, but not for external.  My hiring managers hate them.  But this application form, they say, in a wingeing tone, it doesn't say what they do outside work, it doesn't have any personality, I can't tell when they went to school or if they're married. 

No, Mr Hiring Manager, it doesn't.  But it does ensure you only have the information which is allowable to you by law.  It ensures you have the same information for all the candidates and can compare them.  And it has this little box where they sign to say they have told you the truth.  And that's why we have application forms.