Competitive spirit is the foundation of self growth and progress. It is one of the important quality that a recruiter looks for in a candidate. However, being excessively or negatively competitive can be a bad impression in a recruitment drive. So, it is necessary to keep this quality under check.
‘How competitive are you?’ is one of the most common question asked in any interview. Remember, your competitive spirit should never over shadow your professionalism and ethical behaviour.
Why is Being Competitive Important?
- Competitiveness is the driving force that makes people work hard and imbibe perseverance to achieve their goals.
- A competitive spirit helps you to attain great heights and achieve great results and outcomes. It adds up to your personal development.
- It helps you to try new things and get out of your comfort zone. It pushes you to explore your talents. It is one of the important source of innovation and creativity
Tips for Answering the Competitiveness Question
1. Be assertive.
Being assertive represents your clarity of mind and thoughts. Answering a question extremely vague can create a bad impression. Try to be as up to the point as possible.
2. Don’t sound conceited.
This is one of the most common mistake done by many candidates. In order to show their competitiveness they forget to be humble and modest. Over mentioning your unnecessary achievements can be bad and make you sound conceited.
3. Show that you learn from mistakes.
Remember that no one is perfect, even you. So don’t try to be the person with zero mistakes. Show that you are open to change as per the situation and you learn from your mistakes. These are the things that will make you competitive.
4. Be a team player.
Sometimes this is a trick question when you are required to work as a team. It is asked to see your team spirit. So, be careful. Don’t represent yourself as the chaser of lime light in this situation.
Sample Answers of the Question
1. To be honest, being competitive in a good way is my one of my forte. I chose sales because I like the competitive atmosphere around here and the spirit that each one of us keep burning within ourselves is just inspiring. I love the process and I try my best to deliver best customer service. I never think bad of any of my competitor rather I am grateful for each colleague or co-worker competing with me.
2. I would say I prefer cooperation over competition. There is no room for me, my or myself in a team or a social work. There is no need to be better than someone. I don’t run behind lime light or recognition. I try to compete with myself to be a better version of myself every day. That’s one of the reason that I was drawn to this job opportunity at first instance.
3. I’ve been very or I would say extremely competitive since my childhood. As I grew up, I started understanding the importance of losing and I understood that sometimes you just can’t win because you have to, sometimes you win only if you are ready to. I always try to maintain a healthy level of competitiveness. I have the ability to admit when someone is better than me and I think that’s what makes me perfectly competitive.
4. I am competitive but I don’t compete with others instead I compete with myself and that’s what helps me become a better version of myself. I think when we compete with others we tend to lose ourselves and that’s the one thing that I would never want. I would rather like to invest in myself and enjoy the process of compounding progress.
5. I am very competitive but I am also a very professional and ethical person. I like when the competition is fair and I never like to do anything just to get spotlight. I like to enjoy the process and learn new things. When someone beats me in any competition with their results I never resist from congratulating them and wishing them best for future. I think sportsmanship is very important to keep our competitiveness under check.
6. Being an athlete, competitive spirit is what’s expected of me and being a sports guy, sportsmanship is an integral part of mine. I think this combination of my qualities is exquisite and helps me stand out from the crowd. I have a never say die attitude and I am a very hard working person. My qualities help me to easily have an edge over others.
7. I would say the level of my competitiveness depend on what type of activity I do. Because sometimes just trying to just win is not competitiveness. Sometimes it’s about learning new things and experiencing something out of your comfort zone. I never waste an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. I have dedication, devotion and determination towards my work. I also have a cooperative nature. All these qualities of mine make me an amazingly competitive person.
Conclusion
Competitive spirit is very ambiguous to judge. Having it under control is one of the toughest job for anyone. This quality is a trigger for many dark and unnecessary feelings like jealousy, hatred, etc. So, representing your competitive nature without disturbing the positive image of yourself is very important. Try to be humble and modest while answering this question.
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
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