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I am looking at two opportunities with the same employer, either one I would be very good at. Should I apply to both? Or should I pick only one? I worry that applying to both makes me look like I'm wallpapering the internet with my resume, whereas if I apply to just one, I worry about missing out on the other opportunity if my qualifications come up short.

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Talk to their HR person. Ask them how, based on the size of the company, industry they are in and culture, whether it would make sense to do this.

Personally I would recommend you pick 1 and go for it because:

Imagine the conversations otherwise -

  • yeah, since you asked (e.g. found out), I also applied for position Y because, er, ...

  • I'm excited about this position. What about the other one? well I'm excited about that too...

  • Well, I didn't get position x with Bob, but now I'm applying for this one because, er...

As you can see, while there certainly may be clever answers to the above, the overall impression I'm trying to give is that this is just not a place you want to be in !

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    Talking to their HR rep is a smart idea, I think I will do that. Thanks!
    – jdb1a1
    Jun 29, 2012 at 19:27
  • I disagree with picking just one, but I can't agree more that speaking to HR is a great idea.
    – Hugo Rocha
    Jan 3, 2014 at 11:23
  • I doubt anyone would view wanting any of multiple similar positions at the same company negatively. If the positions were vastly different, it might be viewed negatively, but it might also be view positively (in that you're interested in multiple things the company does). I don't really get why you're recommending telling the HR person you want to apply to multiple positions, but then recommend only applying to one - whatever you say to the HR person could very well end up in your application (HR is not your friend, especially if you don't even work there yet).
    – Bernhard Barker
    Nov 5, 2017 at 19:02
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Apply for both. You never know which one will be the one they want to interview you for. They may have different hiring managers who also have no idea you are applying elsewhere in the organisation or if it is the same person, he may be happy to know you are interested in both because he may have lot of good candidates for one and nobody but you that is good for the other.

If it gets to interviewing though, let them know you have applied for both jobs. If both managers are interested, then they might interview you in the same session and they will have a chance to consult together to determine the best fit if both want to hire you. You wouldn't want to start a new job with a manager mad at you because the other guy stole you away from him and he didn't even know the other guy was looking at you.

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  • Both jobs are under the same assistant director. One of the jobs is more of an administrative/strategy managerial focus, while the other is more of a project-management/software dev position.
    – jdb1a1
    Jun 29, 2012 at 19:26
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    +1 there's nothing wrong with applying for both, especially if it's just one person. It gives them the option to put you in the position they think you'd be better for. In fact, a lot of companies I've applied to in the past allow you to select all the positions you'd be interested in, rather than applying for one specific position.
    – animuson ♦
    Jun 29, 2012 at 20:44
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    +1. Even if you are applying for two different positions and you are qualified for both of them, go for it. Just like a company is evaluating you if you are a fit for the positions, you are also evaluating the two positions as well.
    – Atif
    Jun 30, 2012 at 2:47
  • @HGLEM : And what about if HR mail's contain his name and is the same on the two offers?
    – user2284570
    Nov 22, 2014 at 22:37

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