50 questions to ask new hires in your employment intake form

Introducing a new hire to your team can be an exciting time, but there’s plenty of paperwork to do before you get to officially welcome them on board. 

Onboarding new employees doesn’t have to be so daunting though. Not if you make use of some handy tools that speed up the process for you! 

In this post, we’ll be sharing our tips on what to ask new hires in an employment intake questionnaire. We’ll even provide a free template to save you time creating your form.

Just want the template? Skip ahead to it here 

Why is creating an employment intake form important? 

An employee intake form helps you collect all relevant information about your new hire so that you can:

• Contact them appropriately with company news or HR requests
• Get in touch with emergency contacts in case of an emergency
• Make salary payments into their bank accounts according to their preferences 
• Identify any special requests or accessibility needs they may have 
• Tailor their benefits according to their preferences 

What questions should I ask in an employment intake form? 

Here’s a list of questions to cover all your bases. 

Personal information

These housekeeping questions help you collect a snapshot of the new employee's background.

• Full name
• Preferred name
• Pronouns 
• Date of birth
• Contact information (phone number, email address)
• Address
• Emergency contact information (full name, relationship, email, phone number)
• Previous employer (company name, supervisor name)
• Job title
• Date of hire
• Employment status (full-time, part-time, contract)
• Preferred work hours
• Days available to work
• Start date availability
• Are you legally authorized to work in this country?
• Are you subject to any non-compete agreements or other restrictions from previous employment?

Medical questions 

These are important questions to ask a new employee so you can be mindful of their dietary restrictions during company events and know who you can contact in the case of a medical emergency.

• Do you have any allergies or dietary restrictions we should be aware of? Please specify
• Do you have any medical conditions we should be aware of? Please specify
• Family doctor information (full name, email, phone number) 

Banking information and payment preferences 

These questions help you gather the information you need to process payments efficiently and according to their payment preferences. 

• What is your preferred method of receiving salary payments? (Direct deposit, physical check, electronic transfer)
  
• Please provide your bank account details for direct deposit purposes. This information will be kept confidential and securely stored. (Institution #, account #, transit #, SWIFT code)
  
• Would you like to split your salary payments across multiple accounts? If yes, please provide details for each account.
  
• Do you have any specific instructions or preferences regarding the timing of salary payments (e.g., frequency (bi-weekly/weekly/monthly, preferred date)?
  
• Are there any additional banking-related considerations or preferences you would like us to be aware of?
  
• Do you authorize the deduction of any voluntary contributions or benefits from your salary? If so, please specify.

Benefit program preferences

These questions help you gather employees' preferences regarding your benefits program, ensuring that they can pick what best suits their needs and preferences

• Which of the following benefit programs are you interested in enrolling in? (Check all that apply)
  
  - Health insurance
  - Dental insurance
  - Vision insurance
  - Life insurance
  - Disability insurance
  - Retirement savings plan (e.g., 401(k))
  - Flexible spending accounts (e.g., FSA, HSA)
  - Employee assistance program (EAP)
  - Wellness programs
  
• For health insurance, do you prefer:
  - A traditional PPO plan
  - A high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA)
  - Other (please specify)
  
• Are you interested in coverage for dependents (spouse, children) under any of the selected benefit programs? If yes, please provide details.
  
• Do you have any specific preferences or requirements regarding coverage levels, deductibles, or co-payments for the selected benefit programs?
  
• Are there any additional benefit programs or perks you would like us to consider offering to employees?
  
• Would you like to receive information or attend a session about the available benefit programs to help you make informed decisions?
  
• Do you have any questions or concerns regarding the benefit programs offered?

Accessibility and inclusion 

These questions help you gather information that will help you make necessary accommodations and create an inclusive work environment for all employees. It's important to ask these questions sensitively and assure employees that their responses will be handled confidentially and respectfully.

• Do you require any accommodations or assistance to perform the duties of your job effectively? If so, please specify.
  
• Are there any medical conditions or disabilities we should be aware of to support your work environment and ensure your well-being?
  
• Do you require any specialized equipment or modifications to your workspace (in office or remotely) to accommodate your needs?
  
• Do you have any ergonomic requirements or preferences for your workstation setup? (e.g., ergonomic chair, standing desk, wrist support)

• Are there any accommodations or adjustments needed to support your physical comfort and well-being during work hours?
  
• Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your specific needs or how we can best support you in your role?

Working style preferences 

These questions help you understand employees' preferences and requirements related to their working environment, communication preferences, and tools they use to help you make sure their work setup promotes their productivity.

• Do you have a preference for a specific operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux) for your work laptop?
  
• Do you have a preference for a specific smartphone platform (iOS, Android) for work-related communication and tasks?
  
• How do you prefer to receive feedback from supervisors? (e.g., in-person meetings, written feedback via email or messaging, scheduled feedback sessions)
  
• Is there a particular frequency or format of feedback that works best for you?
  
• Do you plan to work mostly in the office, mostly remotely, or in a hybrid arrangement?
  
• Do you prefer a quiet working environment or a more collaborative, social atmosphere?
  
• Are there any specific environmental factors (e.g., lighting, temperature, seating arrangements) that contribute to your productivity and comfort?
  
• What is your preferred method of communication for work-related matters? (e.g., email, phone calls, instant messaging)
  
• Are there specific communication tools or platforms you are comfortable using for team collaboration and communication?

Recruitment process feedback 

It’s never a bad idea to sneak in some feedback questions in your employment intake form. Now that you’ve hired the employee, you might as well ask how their hiring experience was!

• Do you have any feedback on the recruitment process?
• Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your expectations for this role?

What’s the quickest way to set up an employment intake form?

You probably don’t want to go with writing out these questions in a Word Doc or bouncing it out into a PDF as this will come with limitations if you want to edit your questions later. It’ll also be a serious pain to take the data you collect and organize it into appropriate files or folders.

Your best bet is to use a proper data collection or form builder tool that’s designed to make the process of collecting this information easy for you. To get an idea of the best tools out there and how they compare, read 8 of the best form builders and how they stack up. 

And if you want to trust in the fact that we know what we’re doing, we’ll fill you in on why Content Snare is your best pick for building your employment intake form!

Why use Content Snare? 

Content Snare is a highly-rated questionnaire builder tool that makes life easy for your HR team as well as your new hires. Here’s why you might like it:

Templates

The platform offers ready-to-use questionnaire templates that can be used as-is or customized. Our employment intake form includes all the questions from this blog, ready for immediate use, saving you significant time.

Auto reminders

When sending out your employment intake questionnaire, you can set up an auto reminder schedule. Content Snare will then automatically send reminders to your clients according to this schedule, reducing the need for repetitive follow-ups.

Accept/reject responses

Respondents may sometimes provide incorrect or incomplete information, or submit poor-quality or illegible document copies. Content Snare's approve/reject feature allows you to flag these issues and request corrections, ensuring accurate and complete submissions.

Complete in chunks

Content Snare's questionnaires are designed for a user-friendly experience. It's easy for both you and your employees to use, allowing them to complete the questionnaire in sections while automatically saving their progress. Additionally, respondents don’t need a Content Snare account to fill out their forms.