How to apply for jobs on Lever: a step-by-step guide

What is a Lever job application?

Lever is talent acquisition software that employers use to publish job postings and manage applicants. Every Lever customer gets a Lever-hosted job site, usually at an address such as jobs.lever.co followed by the company name, and a posting there has an Apply button that opens the application form. Some employers build their own careers page on top of Lever instead, but the questions work the same way.

Lever states plainly that it is not a job board. When you see Powered by Lever, you are applying to that company, and Lever’s team cannot help you apply to a specific employer or check your application status. For those questions you go back to the company’s careers page or contact the company directly.

The form is a single page, and the employer controls much of it: which questions are required, which profile links it asks for, which custom questions appear and whether you get a confirmation email. The steps below cover what you are likely to see. For general habits that apply to any online application, read how to apply for jobs online.

Do you need a Lever account to apply?

No. Lever’s hosted application form asks for your details directly; there is no candidate sign-in or profile to create first. That makes applying quick, but it also means nothing is saved between applications, so keep a master document with your work history, links and standard answers.

The email address you type matters more than it looks. Lever’s developer documentation explains that it identifies candidates by email address and merges candidate records when the addresses match. Use the same email every time you apply to the same company so your applications land on one record, and pick an inbox you check every day, because that is where the employer will reply.

How to fill out a Lever application form, step by step

Lever’s application form has a fixed core that every employer’s form includes, plus optional pieces the employer adds. The core personal information questions are resume, full name, email, phone, current location and current company. Full name and email are required by default, and the employer can make the others required too. Required questions are marked with an asterisk.

1. Attach your resume first; Lever reads it and may fill in details such as your name, contact information and current location.
2. Check your full name, email and phone, and correct anything the resume reader got wrong.
3. Confirm your current location by typing it and choosing a match from the dropdown list; on multi-location postings you may also pick a preferred location.
4. Fill in the link fields the employer requested, such as LinkedIn URL, GitHub URL or Portfolio URL.
5. Answer the employer’s custom questions and, on U.S. postings where the employer has enabled them, decide whether to answer the voluntary EEO questions.
6. Use the Additional information box, if the form has one, for a short note the employer would want to read, then review the whole page and click Submit application.

Resume upload and parsing on Lever

Lever’s resume parser extracts readable information from your resume, such as your name, organization and contact details, and adds it to your candidate profile. When you apply through the job site, the current location field is filled in from the resume too. If the resume cannot be read, you enter the details by hand, and some forms show a message such as Couldn’t auto-read resume.

Lever lists the file types it can parse: Microsoft Word, including .docx, Adobe PDF, Rich Text (RTF), Corel WordPerfect, HTML and Open Office documents. It cannot parse images such as JPG or PNG files. Lever suggests a simple test: if you cannot highlight the text in your document with your cursor, it is probably not parseable. A scanned resume needs converting to one of those formats first.

Parsing works best on a plain layout: one column, standard section headings, no text in images, and essential details kept in the body of the page rather than in headers and footers. Save the file as a PDF from your word processor instead of printing it to PDF so the text stays selectable. The ATS-friendly resume guide explains the rest. Lever’s file upload questions accept files up to 100 MB, so a normal resume is never close to the limit.

• Upload a .docx or text-based PDF, not a photo or scan of your resume.
• Name the file with your first and last name.
• After the upload, compare every filled-in field with your resume and fix mismatches.
• Some employers switch off email parsing, so you may need to type your email address yourself.

Links, cover letters and custom questions

Employers choose which link questions to add, and Lever appends the word URL to each one, so you see labels such as LinkedIn URL or Portfolio URL. Paste the full address, open it in a private browser window to confirm it loads without a sign-in, and make sure your LinkedIn dates match your resume. The LinkedIn profile tips guide helps if your profile needs work first. Some employers also add an Apply with LinkedIn button that fills the form from your LinkedIn profile. It is always optional, and if the text beside it says the poster may use your profile for jobs at other companies, read that before you click.

Lever’s core form has no dedicated cover letter field. Lever advises employers who want a cover letter to ask for it with a file upload question, so when a posting requires one, look for an upload labelled cover letter. If there is none and the posting still asks for a letter, a short version in the Additional information box is a reasonable fallback.

Custom questions can be single-line or paragraph text, dropdowns, multiple choice, checkboxes, file uploads or a university picker. Employers can make answers to sensitive questions secret, so only people with the right access see them. Answer each question exactly and truthfully, especially yes-or-no questions about work authorization, sponsorship or required licenses, and keep the details consistent with your resume.

EEO questions and asking for an accommodation

Employers can turn on equal employment opportunity questions in Lever and choose which to show, and Lever says these questions should only be asked on U.S.-based postings. They appear near the end of the form and cover topics such as gender, race and ethnicity, veteran status and disability. They are voluntary, the section headings usually say so, and each question offers a way to decline, such as I decline to self-identify or I do not want to answer.

If a disability makes any part of the online form hard to use, ask the employer for help. Many postings list an accommodations email address near the end of the form. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that covered employers must provide reasonable accommodation so applicants can be considered, that you can ask orally or in writing, and that it is best to ask as soon as you know you need it.

Confirmation emails, status and follow-up

After you click Submit application, Lever shows a confirmation page or sends you to a page the employer has chosen. Lever lets employers send an automatic confirmation email to applicants, but it is a setting each employer turns on, so a missing email does not mean your application failed. Screenshot the confirmation page and save a copy of the posting.

There is no Lever candidate portal for checking status. Updates come from the employer by email, so watch your inbox and spam folder. Record the application the same day in a job application tracker, and if you hear nothing after a week or two, use the timing and wording in the guide on how to follow up on a job application.

Updating or withdrawing a Lever application, and common errors

Lever’s form has no way to edit a submitted application. To send a corrected resume, fix a wrong phone number or withdraw, email the recruiter or the talent team at the company, ideally by replying to a message they sent you. Applying again is usually not the fix: Lever merges records that share an email address, and employers can turn on a Block repeat applications setting. When it is on and you try to reapply to the same posting within the employer’s waiting period, the form tells you that you have already applied and when you can apply again.

Most other problems have simple fixes:

• Couldn’t auto-read resume: upload a text-based Word or PDF file, or type your details in by hand.
• File too large: compress the file or export a smaller PDF; for large portfolios or videos, share a link if the form offers a text field for one.
• Location dropdown shows no match: try a nearby larger city. Lever also asks a browser it treats as suspicious to solve an hCaptcha puzzle before the dropdown works.
• Required field errors: look for the asterisk-marked questions you skipped, including ones further down the page.
• Do not use Lever’s demo or contact forms for job questions; Lever says its team cannot help with employment inquiries.