Apply for different jobs at the same (large) company

Question

I have applied for Job A at some large company, that has a lot of job offers in the region and field that I am interested in. I have already been to the first interview and made it to the second round of interviews. It is scheduled in about three weeks. If they offer me the job, I will probably take it.

However, as I will soon graduate, I want to continue my job hunt and, as this company has a lot of interesting jobs, I would prefer their Job B over a lot of others in different companies. As this company is large, the HR persons handling Job A and Job B are different, the departments are different, and the offices are at different places (though not too far from each other).

I can think of the following alternatives on how to proceed:

1. Wait for the final decision for Job A and then decide how to proceed.
2. Apply for Job B and inform all people involved of this step - in particular inform my point of contact for Job A that the new application is not to be interpreted as a lack of interest in Job A.
3. Apply for Job B without mentioning anything.

Are items 2 and 3 acceptable at all? What is the best approach such that I do not seem to be not caring enough about Job A, but that on the other hand, do not lose too much time?

Edit: They use an online application system, where at least I can see all my open applications - I have however no clue who else can and will access this kind of information.

Answer 1

I'm sure large companies which list the available positions are used to seeing people apply for several at once.

This didn't arise back in the paleolithic area, when I was job hunting, simply because the position listings weren't public. You applied to the company as a whole, and managers who were looking for staff would see your application and decide whether they were interested in you. I think it's entirely reasonable to replicate that wide exposure by asking to be considered for multiple positions, if the company insists on your applying one by one.

If you're nervous, call the company's HR office and tell them you're enthusiastic about working for them since they're among the best in the business (a bit of flattery never hurts), and want to explore several interesting positions, and ask what they would recommend. There's no way that asking permission or advice can hurt you, and I'll bet they tell you to go ahead. They want to make it easy for the best people to join the company wherever they're the best fit; as long as you're applying only for jobs you're seriously interested in and qualified for, that's good for them as well as for you.

Answer 2

It is very likely that they will have no clue whatsoever about the two separate applications, given your description. They might ask the unrelated question whether you have any other ongoing applications, where you might point it out.

Until you are very far in the hiring process, I would personally keep the information to myself.