Will this look bad? (career-related)

[RoxMonster]

Ever since I've gotten my Masters, I've wanted to get into higher education and would love to work at my alma mater which is in town.

In the past two weeks, I applied for two different positions there and will be applying for a third this weekend. Each position is one I am qualified for, though they are all vastly different, report to different people, different people are in charge of hiring, etc. Each one is something I am genuinely interested in; it isn't as though I apply for every single position that comes open. I don't want them to think I am just desperate for a job (which I'm not; I currently have a full-time job) or just applying for things willy nilly.

But will this look bad if they realize I have been applying for a bunch of different positions? Out of about 12 current job openings, I will have applied for 3. I am qualified for some others but aren't interested, so I am being picky about what I apply for--I could honestly be happy in any of these and wanted to try my chances with all of them. Who knows if they will even notice I applied for multiples because my application stuff gets sent to a different person for each one.

FWIW, if they did see this and asked me about it in a (hypothetical) interview, I was going to say, "I loved the college when I went here as a student and always hoped to work for the university. Since I've gotten my masters, I have been looking at job openings here and applied for those that I felt I was qualified for and that I truly had a large interest in."

What do you think?

[gnomesweetgnome]

I don't think it would look bad at all, as long as your education, qualifications, and experience match up with the job descriptions for the positions you're applying for. With the economy the way it is, tons of people are applying for any opening they're remotely qualified (and sometimes way unqualified) for, and HR and hiring managers are well aware of that fact.

[msmerymac]

As long as you wrote a personalized cover letter for each one, I think that's fine. Oftentimes places will pass your resume along to other departments if they think you'd be a good fit, anyway, so you're just being proactive.

[RoxMonster]

OK good. I am writing personalized cover letters and even adapting my resume to highlight different things for each job.

[orangeblossom]

I don't think it will look bad. I applied for several positions at the last job I had and landed three interviews, one of which resulted in an offer. One job they knew there were going to hire an internal candidate, who turned out to be a really good friend. Another job, they thought I would be a good fit, but would be bored easily.

The job I eventually got, they reached out to me to make sure I applied. I already had at that point, but the point being if I hadn't applied to the other jobs, my name or resume may not have stood out as much when the right position came along.

[barney96]

I work in higher ed- I applied for probably 25+ jobs there(over a year). HR usually just sends the resumes to the indiv departments and they see way too many resumes to remember how many you applied to. I had 4 interviews because its really hard to get into the university here. Here, your resume and cover letter get scored based on how similar your resume is to the job description. No one knows or really cares how many jobs you apply for. gl!

[puppyluv]

If the jobs are in differant departments there is a good chance they have no idea you applied for the others. There are usually search comittes for each position and only the people on the search committee knows the applicants. Unless it is a really small place you are probably fine.

[Deleted]

With the economy the way it is, you would be foolish not to unless you are not qualified. I can not imagine you saying it is your goal to work in academics would be looked at badly.

[RoxMonster]

Mar 29, 2013 21:04:54 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

I don't think it's necessarily bad, but are you truly qualified for three "vastly different" jobs? Or are the jobs similar roles in very different departments?

Also, I guess higher education might be an exception, but having a "dream company" to work for seems a little naive to me. You aren't only applying to work with a certain group of people, and you're applying for jobs in vastly different areas, so there's no guarantee that any one job is going to meet whatever dream you have.

I'm skilled in English and education. One of the jobs is writing-intensive--writing speeches and correspondence for the President of the University. Two are education-intensive: one is being in charge of their teacher education clinical placements and one is working as assistant director of their career center and helping students career plan (I teach a similar course at the HS I work at). So I would say they are all pretty different but they still all fall in line with the experience and education I have.

I wouldn't say this is my dream job or dream company. My dream job is to make a living solely as a writer and live in Hawaii. If I were to quit my day job and say I'm moving to Hawaii to pursue this, I would say that's naive. Knowing I've always wanted to work in higher education, having a university in town that I love and would be happy working at, I don't think is naive. I have a full-time job that I am happy at and not quitting unless I get something else. I am also applying here because we recently bought a house and it is the only university that is nearby. I think applying to this university is fairly practical. I want a job where I can put my Masters degree to use, and education is what I know. I think because I'm an alumni, I have a better chance of getting hired here than at any other university anywhere else. I guess I don't see that as naive.

[puppyluv]

The place you are applying might be different but FWIW here is my experience at a large university. Being an alumni doesnt mean anything. We rarely look at where your degree is from as long as you have one in the right field.

Your best chance at being hired is from already working there or having the EXACT experience they are looking for. You usually have to start lower and work your way up or know someone who can help you get your foot in the door. I would say that 90% of the people hired are internal or have other higher ed experience. It's really hard for outside people to get into the jobs you have described Good luck! I hope you are able find something.

[RoxMonster]

For the most recent job I'm applying for, I do have the exact experience and qualifications they are looking for, so hopefully that will be a huge advantage. A preferred qualification was having experience with the university's teacher education program, for instance, which would point to an alumni. It's a small, private university, and they are big on alumni. At least 4-5 people I graduated with for my Bachelors have jobs there now.

 Last year my husband (a non-alumni) was one of their top two candidates for a position. They even took longer than they had wanted to to make a decision because it was that close and the committee was split. He ended up losing out and I later found out (through his current job he knows someone who works at this university) that the other person was an alum. Obviously I can't prove that is why the other person was hired over him, but all things being equal, I truly believe that was why. So hopefully being an alumni does give me at least a little pull here.

[aurora]

I'm guessing HR will the the only ones to know you even applied for multiple positions; I'd be surprised if the departments did enough talking about job applicants to realize the same applicant had applied for multiple positions.

Good luck!