How to Pursue Two Disparate Jobs at Same Company

Anonymous writes:

I have just completed my bachelor of business administration with majors in management and finance. I’m interested in positions in human resources (primarily), but there are also positions in finance that interest me. I’ve created different versions of my resume that target the two career fields, each highlighting relevant experience and accomplishments, and I’m tailoring my cover letter to particular positions as well. But now I’ve found two distinct positions that both interest me, and they’re at the same large company with the same contact person.

How might I gracefully pursue both jobs?

The Career Doctor responds:

First, kudos to you for understanding the importance of developing different resumes to target different positions.

In this situation, unless the person is one of your network contacts, I don’t think it would be well-received to try and go for both positions. Employers generally want someone who is focused and knows exactly what they want. However, if you knew the person — s/he were part of your network, then I think you could use the relationship to bridge it. And, of course, if there were two different contact people, you might go for both (though even then it can get a little dicey).

So, my best advice, for this situation at least, is to determine the position you most seek, the one that interests you the most and that you can most demonstrate that you are “perfect” for — and go after it with gusto and leave the other position in the dust (for now, unless the situation changes, or if you build enough rapport with the contact person to casually ask about the other one)… but your primary strategy should be to focus on one for now.

And by the way, I have found it more and more common that younger job-seekers do not want to be boxed into one career field, one career choice — and that’s fine. But I also think it’s important to find the one thing you are truly passionate about and build your career around that. Business grads often focus too much on salary, and while we all need to make a living, being miserable in a job that pays well still results in you being miserable.

An article you and other job-seekers in a similar position might find useful is this one, published on Quintessential Careers: Ten Tips for Creating a Career That Lights Your Fire.