In a tough labor market, many job seekers are doing anything they can to stand out and find a new position.
Some have sent in hundreds of applications in hopes of landing a role, but they should be careful about applying to multiple positions at the same company, experts say.
Nicole Kaiser, a technical and executive head hunter in the D.C. area, says that it’s “not unusual” for candidates to apply to several roles at large enterprises.
“It can be a great way to get in front of the hiring teams,” she says.
However, job seekers should proceed with caution, especially when applying to smaller organizations.
According to corporate recruiter Maribel Valencia, hiring managers at small companies are more likely to notice when candidates apply across multiple teams, and it can leave a bad taste in their mouths, she says.
“You’re probably gonna look desperate, and you’re not going to get that buy-in from a specific department,” she says.
Below, Kaiser and Valencia share their best advice for job seekers considering applying to multiple roles at the same company.
To Kaiser, it’s “super normal” for job seekers to pursue several roles at a company, as long as their skills align with each job description.
Often, similar roles pop up across “sister teams” at large companies, she says, and applying to a few comparable roles won’t reflect poorly on a job seeker.
In fact, if a top candidate doesn’t land the job, the hiring manager may pass along their application to other teams within the company that have open roles, Kaiser says.
“That’s where the recruiters or your talent partners are picking up the phone going, ‘Hey, I have somebody, they’re pretty excellent. We just came down to the last two, and one was just a little bit better fit for this team. Would you like the notes?”
However, this approach could also backfire, Valencia says: if one hiring manager at a company has a bad experience with a candidate, they might share that information with their colleagues, and that candidate’s other applications will be “completely ignored.”
For Kaiser, applying to multiple roles only becomes a red flag if those jobs are largely unrelated to the candidate’s skill set, she says.
“What doesn’t make 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 banker position,” she says.
Applying to seemingly random roles “is not going to look great” from a hiring manager’s perspective, she says, especially if “you’ve got none of those credentials in your background.”
In Kaiser’s view, mass-applying to a variety of jobs can indicate that a candidate isn’t being strategic about their job search.
“That tells me that the candidate’s not going towards their strengths, where they’re really going to be a value add, where they’re going to match that job description and beat out other great candidates,” she says.
The job market is undeniably difficult right now, Kaiser says, so she “can understand the desperation behind spamming out as many applications as you possibly can and knocking on as many doors.”
Unfortunately, that approach rarely works for job seekers, she says.
“You’re just kind of wasting your own time and the recruiter’s time, when you really could be spending the same amount of time that you spent on 7 or 8 applications to send one really exceptionally crystal clear one,” she says.
Amid a sea of weak applications, applying to jobs that genuinely align with your skills will help you stand out, Valencia says.
“If you do have a really good resume and that attracts a certain hiring manager, they will eventually reach out,” she says.
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