Applying for the same job
March 15, 2007
One thing that I am finding that is coming up pretty often is how to deal with more than one person applying for the same job. As new grads, the entire class is graduating at the same, which means that we’re also all looking for jobs at the same time. So what do you do if you find out that your best friend is applying for the same job that you are?
I see two potential ways of handling it. On the one hand, you can keep your friend informed from the beginning and tell him or her that you’re planning on applying for a specific job. Alternatively, you can keep all your job interviews a secret.
Personally, I like the second option better. If you go with the first option, then you may have to deal with a friend who says, “Oh, but I’m already applying there, and if you still want to be friends, you wouldn’t take away a possible job from me.”
But even if you do keep things hush hush, there is plenty of room for awkwardness. Just yesterday, I was doing an internship at a hospital that I interviewed at when I saw a classmate of mine getting a tour from the senior OT at the hospital. Now I had already applied for the job, and they had said over and over again how interested they were in hiring me. So when I suddenly saw my classmate dressed in a suit and getting a tour, I was a little put off.
So no matter how you handle the situation, it’s a tough call. I would say that if you go out on interviews with the realization that there’s a whole class of new grads, then there is going to be competition for jobs. Thankfully, there are plenty of OT jobs currently available with most offering hefty sign on bonuses.
Any comments on how to handle the situation are welcome.
Entry Filed under: OT, interviewing, job search, new grad, occupational therapy. .
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Paul | December 9, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I suggest you do whatever you can to have the hirees come to you. Submitting resumes and applications to find work is the cold-calling of job search. Best thing to do is have the hirees come to you where you don’t need to apply to the same company, hospital, etc. where your friend is applying. For example, if your friend sees that you got a job when you both applied how would he feel. Probably that you were competing and won the game and he lost. If however you placed a classified advertisement for a job in the right publication, in a cost effective way, than your friend would ask “how did you get the job.” And you would say “they came to me.” Doesn’t that seem easier and less competition than applying for the same position at the same place?