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2 Jobs at the same company?

Submitted by Angel on

Is it alright to apply for two positions at the same time for the same company? Here's my situation:

A few weeks ago I applied for a position as a Content Creator at a well-known Aus game dev. company. I was successful in getting shortlisted and proceeded with submitting the an application kit (questionnaire, doc samples, etc) as they requested. I've done my follow-up letters and had very good correspondance the entire time, and I should receive a reply in about one week.

Out of curiosity, I went back and checked their careers page and noticed a receptionist position. I have a lot more -professional- experience as a receptionist than I do "writing quests".

I am tempted to apply for the receptionist position as well, and I already would have without hesitation if I wasn't awaiting the results of my current application. However, I don't want to ruin any chance I have for the first application.

I could wait until I receive results to apply for the receptionist position.. but then I might loose any advantage in being an early bird.

Does anyone have any advice?

Submitted by Chaos on Mon, 21/03/05 - 12:02 AM Permalink

Ring them up and speak with there head HR person.

Submitted by mcdrewski on Mon, 21/03/05 - 12:08 AM Permalink

Definitely talk directly to them and explain the situation. Make sure you're clear which job you actually want though.

Submitted by Angel on Mon, 21/03/05 - 3:15 AM Permalink

Thanks guys. I arrive back in Australia in 4 days, so Ill have to call them then. It's also the same time that I'm expecting to hear their reply though. Maybe I can persuade them into an interview at the same time. I wouldn't normally ask all these questions, but if I have a chance to do this, I want to make sure I do it right.

Submitted by Angel on Mon, 21/03/05 - 9:00 PM Permalink

One of my friends recommended that I actually don't apply for the receptionist job and that I'd be better off trying for the QA department. He has confidence in my application for the Content Creation position and suggests that applying for the receptionist job might show that I'm not as serious about getting into game development. I initially considered the receptionist job because it'd be a way to meet people in the company.

Thanks for the advice, these forums are pretty helpful even just for fleshing my thoughts out. I wonder if anyone else has been in a similar position, what they chose, and what the outcomes were.

Submitted by Jacana on Mon, 21/03/05 - 9:40 PM Permalink

I think a foot in the door is a foot in the door. Even if it is reception you will still have the ability to hear about the jobs going with the possibility of internal promotion. As well, you may find that in in taking a reception position you may open up different doors into areas like business management and production areas.

Submitted by Blitz on Tue, 22/03/05 - 4:55 AM Permalink

There is still the problem of, if you take a job in one area (receptionism) but really want to transfer into another area (design, engineering, art) you have to make a lateral move through the companies structure, which at some companies can be rather difficult.
eg. If you take a job as a QA tester, moving up through the QA ranks (tester, senior tester, lead tester) will be much easier than moving over to the programming department. You are already a good tester, and they know they can depend on you, so they don't want to lose an important person from that department.
You may find a similar thing with the receptionist job, as they would rather keep you as an excellent receptionist, than move you to a design job and have to hire another receptionist.
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by Angel on Tue, 22/03/05 - 8:05 PM Permalink

Decisions, decisions. I guess I'll stick to my plan and wait and see what happens with the job. If I don't get it and the reception position is still open, I'll consider applying (or make my mum apply, bwaha). I've always been very lucky with showing initiative and skill. One regular job I had as a receptionist would have landed me a position in the companies IT department - if I wasn't moving insterstate. Besides, I still have to finish my marketing course anyway, I just didn't want to let the design job slip away without taking my chance and applying.

Submitted by Chaos on Wed, 23/03/05 - 3:01 AM Permalink

The company you applied for (i think) is a big comany and has alot of staff members, plus other projects. So being the receptionist would mean not really being able to do anything with the games side of it.

Submitted by Angel on Wed, 23/03/05 - 6:53 PM Permalink

Thanks Chaos, I didn't expect to have anything to do with developing the games - just networking I guess, although you're right, it wouldn't give me any opportunity to impress anyone.

Posted by Angel on

Is it alright to apply for two positions at the same time for the same company? Here's my situation:

A few weeks ago I applied for a position as a Content Creator at a well-known Aus game dev. company. I was successful in getting shortlisted and proceeded with submitting the an application kit (questionnaire, doc samples, etc) as they requested. I've done my follow-up letters and had very good correspondance the entire time, and I should receive a reply in about one week.

Out of curiosity, I went back and checked their careers page and noticed a receptionist position. I have a lot more -professional- experience as a receptionist than I do "writing quests".

I am tempted to apply for the receptionist position as well, and I already would have without hesitation if I wasn't awaiting the results of my current application. However, I don't want to ruin any chance I have for the first application.

I could wait until I receive results to apply for the receptionist position.. but then I might loose any advantage in being an early bird.

Does anyone have any advice?


Submitted by Chaos on Mon, 21/03/05 - 12:02 AM Permalink

Ring them up and speak with there head HR person.

Submitted by mcdrewski on Mon, 21/03/05 - 12:08 AM Permalink

Definitely talk directly to them and explain the situation. Make sure you're clear which job you actually want though.

Submitted by Angel on Mon, 21/03/05 - 3:15 AM Permalink

Thanks guys. I arrive back in Australia in 4 days, so Ill have to call them then. It's also the same time that I'm expecting to hear their reply though. Maybe I can persuade them into an interview at the same time. I wouldn't normally ask all these questions, but if I have a chance to do this, I want to make sure I do it right.

Submitted by Angel on Mon, 21/03/05 - 9:00 PM Permalink

One of my friends recommended that I actually don't apply for the receptionist job and that I'd be better off trying for the QA department. He has confidence in my application for the Content Creation position and suggests that applying for the receptionist job might show that I'm not as serious about getting into game development. I initially considered the receptionist job because it'd be a way to meet people in the company.

Thanks for the advice, these forums are pretty helpful even just for fleshing my thoughts out. I wonder if anyone else has been in a similar position, what they chose, and what the outcomes were.

Submitted by Jacana on Mon, 21/03/05 - 9:40 PM Permalink

I think a foot in the door is a foot in the door. Even if it is reception you will still have the ability to hear about the jobs going with the possibility of internal promotion. As well, you may find that in in taking a reception position you may open up different doors into areas like business management and production areas.

Submitted by Blitz on Tue, 22/03/05 - 4:55 AM Permalink

There is still the problem of, if you take a job in one area (receptionism) but really want to transfer into another area (design, engineering, art) you have to make a lateral move through the companies structure, which at some companies can be rather difficult.
eg. If you take a job as a QA tester, moving up through the QA ranks (tester, senior tester, lead tester) will be much easier than moving over to the programming department. You are already a good tester, and they know they can depend on you, so they don't want to lose an important person from that department.
You may find a similar thing with the receptionist job, as they would rather keep you as an excellent receptionist, than move you to a design job and have to hire another receptionist.
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by Angel on Tue, 22/03/05 - 8:05 PM Permalink

Decisions, decisions. I guess I'll stick to my plan and wait and see what happens with the job. If I don't get it and the reception position is still open, I'll consider applying (or make my mum apply, bwaha). I've always been very lucky with showing initiative and skill. One regular job I had as a receptionist would have landed me a position in the companies IT department - if I wasn't moving insterstate. Besides, I still have to finish my marketing course anyway, I just didn't want to let the design job slip away without taking my chance and applying.

Submitted by Chaos on Wed, 23/03/05 - 3:01 AM Permalink

The company you applied for (i think) is a big comany and has alot of staff members, plus other projects. So being the receptionist would mean not really being able to do anything with the games side of it.

Submitted by Angel on Wed, 23/03/05 - 6:53 PM Permalink

Thanks Chaos, I didn't expect to have anything to do with developing the games - just networking I guess, although you're right, it wouldn't give me any opportunity to impress anyone.