In a tough job market, many job seekers are doing whatever they can to stand out and find new positions.
Experts say some people send in hundreds of applications hoping to land a role, but be careful when applying for multiple positions at the same company.
Nicole Kaiser, a technology and executive headhunter in the Washington, D.C., area, says it’s “not uncommon” for candidates to apply for multiple positions at large companies.
“This can be a great way to get in front of recruiting teams,” she says.
However, job seekers should proceed with caution, especially when applying to smaller organizations.
Corporate recruiter Maribel Valencia said small business recruiters are likely to find candidates applying across multiple teams, which can leave a bad taste in their mouths.
“It’s probably going to look hopeless and you’re not going to get buy-in from certain sectors,” she says.
Below, Kaiser and Valencia share their best advice for job seekers considering applying for multiple positions at the same company.
Apply to targeted roles
For Kaiser, it’s “very normal” for job seekers to pursue multiple roles within a company, as long as they have the skills to fit each job description.
She says similar roles often occur across “sister teams” in large companies, and applying for several comparable roles won’t make a candidate look bad.
In fact, if the top candidate doesn’t get the job, the hiring manager may pass the application on to other teams within the company that have open positions, Kaiser says.
“So a recruiter or a talent partner would pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got someone here, we’ve got someone who’s really good. We’re down to the last two, and one person is a little bit better suited for this team. Do you want a note?’
But this approach could backfire, Valencia said. If a company’s recruiters have a bad experience with a candidate, they may share that information with colleagues, causing that candidate’s other applications to be “completely ignored.”
For Kaiser, applying for multiple jobs is only a red flag if those jobs are largely unrelated to the candidate’s skill set, she says.
“What makes sense is, let’s say I’m a business analyst and I apply for an analyst position, I apply for a project manager position, I apply for a technical writer position, and I apply for a bank clerk position,” she says.
From a hiring manager’s perspective, applying for seemingly random roles is “not very good,” she says, especially “if you don’t have any of those qualifications in your resume.”
play to your strengths
In Kaiser’s view, applying to a large number of different jobs can indicate that a candidate is not being strategic about their job search.
“It shows that the candidate is not moving towards their strengths, where they actually add value, where they fit the job description and try to beat out other good candidates,” she says.
The current job market is undoubtedly difficult, so “the desperation to send out as many applications as possible and knock on as many doors as possible is understandable,” Kaiser said.
Unfortunately, she says that approach rarely works for job seekers.
“You’re just wasting your time and the recruiter’s time when you could actually be spending the same amount of time sending out one very specific application as you would have spent on seven or eight applications,” she says.
In a sea of weak applications, Valencia says you can stand out by applying for jobs that truly match your skills.
“If you have a really good resume and it attracts a certain recruiter, you’ll eventually get a call,” she says.
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