A file checklist before you start an online application
By Umair Tahir · Updated 2 October 2026
Most trouble with online applications happens in the last hours before a closing date, when a photo will not upload and there is no time to fix it. Nearly all of it can be avoided by preparing the files before you open the form. This checklist takes about fifteen minutes.
1. Read the official instructions for this post
Requirements differ between organisations and can change between advertisements. Read the advertisement for the post and the organisation’s own instructions, not a summary on another website. FPSC, for example, tells candidates to read the advertised conditions of the post and its “General Instruction to Candidates” before going further.
Note down three things from the official source: which files are asked for, the size limit for each, and the format.
2. Prepare the photograph
- Use a recent passport style photo: head and shoulders, plain background, facing the camera.
- Check whether the form names a background colour. NTS and Join Pak Army ask for blue or white.
- Resize it for the form and save the result with a clear name.
- Look at the resized file once to make sure your face is clear.
3. Prepare the CNIC image, if the form asks for one
PPSC and ASF both ask for an image of the front of the CNIC, under the same small limit as the photograph. Photograph the card flat and in good light, crop the photo to the card, and then resize it with the CNIC option. Check that the name and the number can be read in the small file.
4. Keep the details you will be asked to type
Forms ask for the same details each time. Having them in front of you prevents typing mistakes that are hard to correct later:
- Your CNIC number and its date of issue.
- Your name and your father’s name exactly as they are written on the CNIC.
- Your date of birth, postal address, mobile number and email address.
- Your qualifications with the year, the board or university and the marks.
Use a mobile number and an email address that you can open at that moment. PPSC, for example, verifies both during the application and later sends the application number by email and SMS.
5. Understand how the fee is paid
On several portals the fee comes before the form is completed. FPSC and PPSC both generate a PSID number that is used to pay the fee, and FPSC’s picture upload comes in its second step, after the fee has been deposited. Read the fee procedure first so that you are not surprised halfway through.
6. Put everything in one folder
Save the resized photo and the CNIC image in one folder with names you will recognise, such as “fpsc-photo” and “ppsc-cnic”. When the form opens the file picker, it is easy to choose the large original by mistake because it shows the same picture. Clear names prevent that.
7. Do not wait for the last day
FPSC’s guidelines advise candidates to submit the online application immediately after the vacancies are advertised, without waiting for the closing date. The advice holds for every portal. Websites slow down when many people apply at once, and a problem found on the last evening leaves no time to solve it.
8. Keep a record after you submit
When the application is submitted, save whatever the portal gives you: the application number, the confirmation page and any email or SMS. PPSC, for example, issues an application number and a token number that is needed to edit or print the application. Take a screenshot of the confirmation page and keep the files you uploaded until the process is finished, in case you are asked for them again.
With the files ready and the details in front of you, filling the form itself usually takes only a few minutes.