How to Answer: How competitive are you?
15. How competitive are you?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to know if you have a competitive spirit. Being a competitive person is an excellent thing if you are appropriately competitive in the workplace. Assure the interviewer that you have a tremendous competitive edge when necessary but are still able to balance that competition healthily.
Answer Example
"I think that on a scale of 1-10, I would rate myself as a 7 when it comes to being competitive. I love a great competition in the workplace when it comes to sales goals and breaking through last years' numbers. I am not competitive to the point that it would hurt my team or colleagues."
Admin
"I am competitive with myself and when it comes to the targets of the organization which I work. I like to set small challenges for myself, usually related to deadlines, on a daily basis."
Manager
"Competition in the workplace can be a great thing. I create small competitions with the staff, and I love to see how it motivates them. I then look at the numbers and see how much my workplace challenge has affected productivity, compared to the week before. I am a numbers person, so my competitive streak is satisfied by knowing I have improved productivity from week to week."
Marketing
"Competition is a healthy component to creativity. When I am competitive with myself, I come up with really great ideas that help my team to deliver incredibly projects to our clients. Of course, my approach is always welcoming and friendly."
Retail
"I love to challenge myself to see how much I can exceed my sales targets for the day, week, and the month. Being in retail sales, I believe I have been conditioned to be quite competitive in the workplace."
Sales
"Being a sales professional, I am probably one of the most competitive people I know. I grew up playing competitive hockey and soccer so I focus a great deal on being the best that I can be to carry myself and my team. This attitude has always been a positive one, and I bring it to the workplace as well."
Teacher
"I do not compete with fellow teachers, but I am always competing with myself. How many students can I help to overcome learning roadblocks? How quickly can I mark these papers? How can I improve efficiency in my classroom? Those are the competitively driven questions I ask myself on a regular basis."
User-Submitted Answer
"I love winning, both individually and collectively. I am extremely competitive, but winning for me is the ability to help the organization have an impact. The competitiveness is to push others and myself to high levels of performance so that we can have great impacts."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Cindy Ramsey Reviewed the Above Answer
Great take on the question. Winning isn't just an individual, but a team pursuit. Can you provide an example of how you've channeled your competitive nature so that the team wins?
User-Submitted Answer
"I would say I am competitive, I love a challenge and rising to the occasion. Often times I find I am most competitive with myself, always looking for ways to improve and get better. Although I am not competitive enough to lose sight of my integrity. It is important to keep a healthy balance on competition. Having a competitive drive while also knowing how to be empathetic and caring is a must."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Chad Wilson Reviewed the Above Answer
Good answer! The interviewer will be assured you have a healthy level of competitive spirit, and recognize the importance of balancing competitiveness in the workplace. I like that you mention being internally competitive, as it demonstrates your drive and ambition.
User-Submitted Answer
"I would say that I'm primarily competitive against myself. I'm always looking for ways to improve upon my previous achievements. For example, 15 yrs ago I built license place recognition using the best technologies available to me at the time. But last year I challenged myself to learn the latest deep learning techniques, and apply those techniques to the same set of images to see whether I could improve the results and if I could build a system in less time. I learn best by doing. It was exciting how easier it was to use the latest technologies, and observe which of the old system's shortcomings it beat, and which remain as ongoing challenges."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Marcie Wilmot Reviewed the Above Answer
Awesome! Speaking about your internal competitiveness is a smart strategy here. It shows that you're constantly trying to improve and better yourself. That's really neat that you challenged yourself to learn the newest technology so you could build a more better system quicker. Great job!