Appearing for an interview and not preparing for this question would be a sin. This is a very recurring and prominent question that appears in almost all the interviews held across the world covering almost all the positions. Hence it is vital and extremely important to prepare a definite and impressive answer in order to increase your chances of selection.
This can be considered as a rather tricky question because we all know employers are always on the hunt for individuals who are cooperative and are a team player and not for employees who are competitive and wants to defeat their colleagues. But, we are not living in a virtual world and everyone knows, in order to achieve perfection, scale new heights, or even to survive, you have to compete with others and even beat them with a huge margin in order to accomplish your goals in life.
Preparation for this favorite question of the interviewer can be made better by following the samples mentioned below:
Six Effective Sample Answers To Conquer This Question
1) For Information Technology Field
This case study is useful for employees who are applying for any Information Technology company. Use it to base your answer on the same lines:
When I was working as a programmer for XYZ Technologies and Infrastructure Corporation, our team was competing with our rival company. There was a mad race as to which organization will release the software first. The software was related to the accounting field. It was really a tough situation to manage, as there were considerable pressures from our seniors to make and design the software as quickly as possible as we wanted to beat our rival competitor.
At the same time, we as a team were really concerned as, designing software at such speed will leave some unintentional bugs, leading to bad reviews and eventually losing the market share.
Since I was leading my team, I had all the responsibilities of developing bugless and effective software, before our rival makes it. For this purpose, I used the skill of motivation. There were some big names working in the team of our rival, in the field of programming, coding and designing the software. On the other hand, our team was quite young and less professional.
I told every one of them, maybe your competitors are more powerful than you, but you are no less than them. You people have the power, skills, and desire to beat them. Let’s show them who we are.
My team got hugely motivated, and they were working with more zeal, energy and most importantly they were working day and night, with barely four hours of sleep. As a result, we were able to develop software within a week and launched it in the market, which climbed the leader board position in less than ten days.
So, it is really beneficial sometimes to have bad blood with anyone, which pushes you to the edge of your comfort and eventually makes you better and stronger.
2) For Sales Related Field
Our organization ABC Trading Company Ltd. rates its sales personnel highly and even offer several benefits and perquisites upon achieving a particular sales target. There has always been a healthy competition among our group of sales employees working for the company.
When I was working with ABC Trading Company Ltd, I once came across a unique situation that was driven by greed, recognition, and eventually promotion. I used to have an in-house leader board, wherein whoever will close more deals and achieve the assigned target the quickest, would get a small cash prize, memento, and of course a lot of recognition from his peers.
In a quest to earn all these things, we used to work with full dedication and energy, so that we can out sale our colleague. Even though the level of internal competition, was too high, we never engaged in politics and always helped each other in closing a deal. This work culture existing in the era of cutthroat competition is hard to find, and I expect to find the same in your prestigious organization as well.
3) General Situation (negative) – Competed For The Post of A Manager
We all experience a situation when we compete, against our own colleague for a senior post. This study would give you a fair idea about the same.
The most enthralling and exciting competitive situation, that I have ever experienced in my life was the time when I competed with my female colleague for the post of senior accounts manager. It was made utterly clear by our manager, that he will promote any one of us, to the senior position due to the constricted budget. So whoever would complete the most number of audits with review points of 4 or above, would be promoted.
After this criterion was set, my colleague entered into dirty politics and even tried to destroy my audit papers, notes and once even influenced my audit clients into giving me a bad review. Not once, this was happening all the time, and if I used to complain, they would mostly go unanswered. hence, I decided to quit such an office atmosphere and wanted to join your organization, as I have heard, that work culture over here is superior and refined.
4) I Oppose The Idea Of Competition
It is not always necessary to offer a real life experience as a potential answer to this question. Rather you can quote:
Based on my understanding and research, In my humble opinion, there is nothing worst than the competition. Rather cooperation and forming alliances is the most effective way to succeed and achieve glory. Take the example of the oil industry, where they operate in a cartel, rather than competing with each other. To enter into a mutual agreement is the best way to eliminate competition and thereby increase the sales and ultimately profit margins. Entering into an alliance will save your valuable time, resources, and energy, which in turn could be channelized in a better way.
5) Answer In Case Of A Fresher
Since this is my first time that I will be working with any organization, I don’t have any real-life competitive situation, experienced at any workplace. But that does not mean I am not competitive and would lose my composure in competitive situations out of my comfort zone. Right from my school days, I wanted to compete with others and wanted to win in almost every situation.
Be it sports, academics, or arts, I have always given tough competition to my fellow mates. For this, I used to prepare very hard and pushed my boundaries even harder, thereby raising the benchmark a few times.
I would like to carry my attitude into this organization and want to channel my energy and composure into achieving the targets of the company well within the assigned time frame. I surely believe, that my competitive nature, will be beneficial to the organization in achieving great heights, and I can prove to be an asset to the organization.
6) I Am My Biggest Competitor and Rival
If I state frankly and in a truthful way, without beating about the bush, I am my biggest rival. I don’t consider any person in bones and flesh to be my competitor. I believe that my competition is with myself, and this feeling makes me a complete person and gives me a sense of accomplishment.
If I would start comparing myself with my peers and competitors then I would always have a sense of monotony and a negative aura would surround me impacting my performance, leading me into a pothole. Hence, I don’t follow this practice of comparison, rather I compare my results for a particular period with a similar preceding period, allowing me to:
- Measure my own performance
- Identify the areas of weaknesses and improvements
- Identify my growth areas
- Identify the solutions, that can contribute and improve my results
- Identify and set the future targets to be achieved
Thus, I reiterate that I am my own competition, and I just make sure that I am moving forward, no matter if the pace of growth is slow. I just want my growth to be steady and smooth.
Conclusion
Preparing for this question is absolutely necessary in order to increase your chances of selection. As your response to the question, would help your employer to analyze your pressure handling skills and your ability to work in competitive situations. Using past experiences or your personal preferences is the best way to answer this question.
Once the interviewer is impressed, be sure that you have come a far way, in achieving your dream job. If you like our articles, then don’t forget to share them with your family and friends. Also, do let us know through the comments section below, how helpful our articles are for you or your peers.
References
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1tE4Skp9pI8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=What%27s+the+most+competitive+work+situation+you%27ve+experienced%3F&ots=KjpH0W-LX6&sig=irBBh1hkYtvUQ_zUjc1UwibQ-0w
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0950017009344871
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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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