The key problem is that most forms are hopelessly designed. It's the job that you give to the new starter to do, once they have made coffees for all the staff. Have you ever completed one of those SurveyMonkey polls? Some twerp spends two hours knocking up a survey and then emails 1000+ copies out. They probably have no way of properly analysing the data they receive back. So maybe 500 person hours of effort/life will be burned up essentially for nothing. The other side of the coin is that when you DO receive a well designed form or survey you then suspect that it has been expertly crafted so that you can't ask various key questions. Free format methods allow you to express your opinions EXACTLY the way you intend. More subtly, the actual process of submitting a form makes you a supplicant ... you have implicitly agreed on Day One that the form creator has the right to control the way you approach an issue. By sidestepping the standardised form process the submitter is maintaining their independence and freedom of action. How many CEOs or other senior managers of major firms do you think ever fill out a job application form? Well, I have recruited many staff in the past, junior & senior. Only the junior staff ever had application forms ....
