Same company, multiple openings (cover letters, applying, application, applications)

[StPaulGal]

The time has come to prevail upon the collective wisdom again.

I am in the midst of a job search, and I have come across a situation that I am not quite sure how to address. There is an over-arching management company that handles operations at several independent entities in my area (and nationwide.) They have posted two identical positions that match what I am looking for, but at different locations. The locations are both a perfectly reasonable commute distance from my house, so it's not as thought one is in Miami and one is in Tulsa or anything.

One job is slightly more desirable than the other, but I want to stress that the job descriptions are entirely identical. Picture one as Sales Manager: Widgets (Snooze-fest Product) and the other as Sales Manager: Widgets (Party-fun-times Product). There is a commission/bonus component, and Party-fun-times Product is slightly more expensive than Snooze-fest Product, but the overall difference in compensation is likely to be quite small.

The application process (at least the first step, which is all I am able to see) is extremely straightforward--submitting a resume and cover letter through their online portal. A hiring manager's name is listed on each posting, and it is the same person for both.

How do I proceed? It seems asinine to write and submit two different cover letters to the same person for what amounts to pretty much the same job. It reeks of insincerity to write about my desire to work with Party-fun-times Product and then turn around and write a separate letter about my love of Snooze-fest Product.

On the other hand, I don't want to limit myself to applying to just one or the other. If I applied for Snooze-fest Product and got the job, I would seriously wonder if I cheated myself out of a job with Party-fun-times Product. But perhaps Party-fun-times product will have a slightly more competitive pool of applicants, so if I just apply for that one I could easily be shooting myself in the foot since I am still relatively junior in this field.

At this point, I am considering applying to work at Party-fun-times Product and including in my cover letter that I would also be interested in being considered for placement with Snooze-fest Product. But I am afraid that (A) hiring processes are so automated that they may not be able to deal with a request like that and/or (B) it will weaken my candidacy for Party-fun-times by making me appear less dedicated.

What do you folks suggest?

(For the record, I am highly exaggerating the differences between these two products for the sake of simplicity and comedic effect. In reality it is a pretty mild differential)

[Aggiebuttercup]

Send one email; in your cover letter, specify that you would be interested in either of these two positions. Talk about the company as a whole and why you want to work for them rather than about the specific products.

If the same person is getting all the applications, it's likely that if the two people he's most interested in both apply to Snooze-fest product job, he'll ask one of them to switch to the other.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Aggiebuttercup

Send one email; in your cover letter, specify that you would be interested in either of these two positions. Talk about the company as a whole and why you want to work for them rather than about the specific products.

If the same person is getting all the applications, it's likely that if the two people he's most interested in both apply to Snooze-fest product job, he'll ask one of them to switch to the other.

I agree, make it clear that you are anxious to work for either and hopefully double your chances for success. You might include 2 separate resumes, one for each, in case this person does pass it on to
a decision maker at the two widget companies.

[StPaulGal]

Thanks to you both for the no-nonsense advice! It's easy to start over-thinking things when you read horror stories of applicants being rejected for "not following directions" when they do one tiny little thing outside the box.