To fill out a demographic form, select the race or ethnicity, gender, veteran status, and disability options that describe you, or choose “decline to answer” for any question you’d rather skip. Every field is voluntary, your answers are kept separate from your application or personnel file, and refusing to answer cannot be used against you. Most forms take a few minutes and use drop-downs, radio buttons, or checkboxes tied to federal definitions.
Every Field Is Voluntary
Before you touch a single checkbox, know this: employers are required to tell you that demographic questions are voluntary, that your responses will be kept confidential, and that declining will not lead to any adverse treatment.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employers Guide Every properly designed form includes an “I do not want to answer” or “Decline to self-identify” choice on each question. Picking it counts as completing the form. No one will circle back and ask you to reconsider.
The data feeds into aggregated compliance reports and internal diversity tracking. Federal guidelines draw a hard line between collecting the data and using it to make employment decisions about a specific person, and the systems handling the data enforce that separation.
Race and Ethnicity
The Office of Management and Budget sets the categories most employers use. Under the March 2024 update to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, race and ethnicity are combined into a single question with seven co-equal categories, and you can select as many as apply to how you identify.2U.S. Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 The seven options are:
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian
- Black or African American
- Hispanic or Latino
- Middle Eastern or North African (new under the 2024 revision)
- Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
- White
Some employers have not yet converted their systems and still show the older two-question layout that asks about Hispanic or Latino ethnicity first and race second.3U.S. Census Bureau. Updates to Race/Ethnicity Standards for Our Nation If you see that older format, it works the same way. Check every category that fits.
Gender
You’ll see a gender question on nearly every form. For the EEO-1 report that most large employers file, the EEOC collects data by sex, with male and female as the reported categories. Some employers add a non-binary option or a write-in field for their own internal diversity tracking, but that’s on top of the federal reporting framework, not part of it. Pick the option that fits, or decline to answer.
Veteran Status
The veteran question asks whether you served on active duty in the military and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 101 – Definitions Many employers, especially federal contractors, go further and ask whether you qualify as a “protected” or “covered” veteran under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act. Four groups qualify:5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4212 – Veterans Employment Emphasis Under Federal Contracts
- Disabled veterans
- Veterans who served during a war or in a campaign for which a campaign badge was authorized
- Veterans who received an Armed Forces service medal
- Recently separated veterans (generally within the last three years of discharge)
If you applied to a federal contractor, expect this question twice: once before a job offer and again after you’re hired.6Berkshire Associates. Takeaways from the Section 503 and VEVRAA Compliance in 2026 Webinar There’s no single government-issued veteran form; each employer builds its own, but the voluntary and confidential disclosures are standardized.
Disability Status
The disability question uses the Americans with Disabilities Act definition: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, or a record of such an impairment.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 12102 – Definition of Disability Federal contractors use a specific OMB-approved document, Form CC-305, the Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability form. It gives you exactly three options:8U.S. Department of Labor. Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
- Yes, I have a disability, or have had one in the past
- No, I do not have a disability and have not had one in the past
- I do not want to answer
Contractors are not allowed to modify the form except for the “For Employer Use Only” section at the bottom, so the wording you see should match the official version exactly.9U.S. Department of Labor. Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form You do not need to explain, document, or specify the disability. Selecting “Yes” is the entire answer.
What Happens If You Skip It
You can leave the whole form blank or decline every question and it will not affect your candidacy or employment. There is one practical consequence worth knowing: if an employer needs demographic numbers for its EEO-1 filing and you didn’t self-identify, it may record your race, ethnicity, or gender based on visual observation or other information already on file. Observer-recorded data is less accurate than what you’d report yourself, which is why organizations encourage you to complete the form even if only to pick “decline to answer” where you want to.
Where Your Answers Go
Demographic responses do not travel with the rest of your application. In a digital applicant tracking system, they’re routed to a separate compliance database that hiring managers and interviewers cannot see. On paper, the completed form typically goes into a sealed envelope handled only by human resources or compliance staff. The point of the separation is to keep the data from touching any individual employment decision.
Disability information carries an extra layer of protection. Federal law requires medical information collected during the employment process to be kept on separate forms in separate medical files and treated as a confidential medical record. Access is limited to supervisors who need to know about workplace restrictions or accommodations, safety personnel in emergencies, and government investigators.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12112 – Discrimination
From there, your answers are aggregated into workforce reports where no individual is identifiable, and the totals are what employers submit to the EEOC under Title VII reporting obligations.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The hiring manager reading your résumé never sees the demographic screen you filled in a few clicks earlier.