So this question needs a bit of backstory, bear with me.
I'm about to apply for a traineeship at a company that has multiple vacancies, including traineeships and internships (in Germany those are two seperate things). However, the job advertisement for this traineeship is posted on an external job postings website, whereas it does not appear on the jobs section on the company's own website. I called the company and the person that answered my call said they were 'not sure' if the posting is still up to date, but that they hadn't filled any of the currently available positions yet and I should go ahead and apply.
Based on this I am not convinced that this position is in fact still available. However, they have another job posting on their website with the same job title and a similar description that only differs in that it is posted as an internship, not a traineeship. While I would rather get the traineeship, I would also be happy with the internship should the former already have been filled. So, I'm thinking about writing an application for the traineeship and mention that I would be interested in the internship as well, in case the traineeship is not available any more.
Is this a good idea? I see a couple of potential downsides:
- It might make me look undecisive.
- It might make me appear less confident in my own abilities (since a traineeship is a higher-rated position than an internship, at least in this case).
- They might consider me only for the internship, not for the traineeship.
The obvious upside is that if the traineeship position is already gone, I might still have a chance to get the internship. I'm not sure what to do, some advice would be appreciated (preferably from someone who has been on the other side of the hiring process)!
Sidenote: Maybe it is better to write an application for the traineeship only, wait for their reply and only ask about the internship if they tell me the traineeship position has been filled already?