Here are five things that companies do in online applications that job seekers dislike the most:

1. Asking for very specific dates. This is one of the most annoying features that we can find in an application form. Some companies demand the year, month, AND DAY of every entry in our employment and education histories. So here’s my question: Is it really useful for a company to know the actual DAY I graduated from college 10 years ago?

2. Asking applicants to paste their resume onto a box, AND THEN upload the actual Word document. Complete waste of time, but it pales in comparison to the other extremely annoying trend: Making applicants fill out an endless form, which includes all possible details of one’s work experience and education, and then they request a copy of the resume. Why do the want the same information twice? A love for bureaucracy?

3. Requiring an explanation of the reason for leaving the last job. Well, let me guess… layoff? Considering today’s economic climate – however improving – this question adds insult to injury. Somehow this question seems more appropriate for an interview setting, where the recruiting person can express a tiny degree of sympathy towards the applicant, if the situation calls for it.

4. Designing very lengthy application forms. The more applications we send in one day, the higher the chances of us getting hired. But some companies simply have no regard for our time. We often find forms that take up ONE HOUR to complete. This is probably the most talked-about trend among job seekers nowadays. My suggestion to companies: focus on the information that really matters and leave the rest for an interview. We will appreciate you for keeping the forms reasonably short.

5. Creating an application form that assumes that the applicant is still employed. Chances are that if we are applying for a job nowadays we are unemployed. An easy way to overcome this problem is to change the wording to, “current or most recent job.”

Despite these annoyances we need to pull through. I know how much these things aggravate us, but if we don’t post our resumes frequently enough our chances to find a job are greatly reduced. May the power be with you.

Here is an idea you may want to try: If you are currently spending eight hours a day sending and posting resumes online, bring it down a notch. Next week spend six hours a day doing the same thing, and the two remaining hours networking with people on the phone.