Applying for another position in the same company (but different branch) after they have already offered you one

Question

I have been offered a job by a big engineering firm. The job is good, salary is good, basically everything is good. I still haven't accepted their verbal or written offer.

However, I recently came across an identical position in the same company but at a different branch, which is much closer to my home and more ideal for me. I spoke to the main HR person who had offered me the job and said I would be interested in applying there. She said that she has no idea about that job opening as it is a different branch and it is being handled by a different recruitment team.

My concern is, is it professional/ethical that I accept the current offer and still apply for the other job in the other branch? The main issue is of course by the time I get any call/interview, I would already be an employee for the company. Also the online portal through which you apply for this job is the same as the previous one and it will have me listed for two jobs. The FAQ section of the company's career section states that I can apply for multiple jobs at the same time. Any advice on this regard would be appreciated!

Answer 1

My concern is, is it professional/ethical that I accept the current offer and still apply for the other job in the other branch?

That would not be unprofessional, there is nothing wrong in handling multiple job offers, or to seek a new job while still employed (usually, it is more recommended to do it while employed).

However, what would not be professional is if you actually get this other offer and decide to "jump" from this new job to that other so soon.

This because you would have only been a really short time in that company, and perhaps changing jobs too soon could result in burning some bridges ("that guy only 'committed' to us but for convenience; as soon as he got another offer he jumped").

Or possibly harm your employment history on the eyes of future recruiters (why did you worked in X company for such a short time?); this would be something you should consider excluding from your resume, as it is usually recommended or preferred to include experiences with 6+ months at least (not a rule-of-thumb but somewhat common knowledge).

So, I recommend you give these suggestions some thinking, so you can decide what to do. The good thing is that these two jobs are on the same company, as you indicated, so in this case you switching between them may not be as harmful as it would be if it were between different companies. So I consider that for this case I think you can manage to switch jobs smoothly and without bridge-burning if handled properly.

Answer 2

I have applied to several positions with a single company within the same time period. When I received an offer, the offer letter required that when I accepted the offer I would immediately withdraw from any other applications with that same company. Their goal was to avoid having two different projects bidding against themselves.

Once you start with the new company you may find it difficult or impossible to apply for another position within the same company until a minimum amount of time has passed. I have seen the typical minimum time period be 6-12 months. The idea is to avoid what you are describing, having project X bring you on board while you are quickly looking for a better project to switch to.

In one company I worked for the company job portal would prevent current employees from being able to apply for positions unless their time in their current position was larger than the lockout period. They could still update their resume, look at job postings, recommend applicants - they just couldn't apply. There were overrides available if there was an extenuating issue such as Reduction in Force, or project moving to a new location. These overrides had to be authorized by their current management.

You can continue apply for jobs outside the company and they can't do anything about it. I have kept alive applications for positions after I have accepted an offer, they were just not in the same company as the one I had accepted.