Over recent months I have become concerned that there are some people that seem to view competition as being somehow negative and that participation is more important. But I am here to share my belief that competition is not only good, it’s expected. I am not talking about becoming obsessed with competition in everything you do, but just to the point of understanding that not everything in this world is about being just a participant.
We compete daily on all sorts of different levels. Running for the very last seat on the train, asking someone out on a date, or simply wanting to be the first to comment on Facebook are all at their core competitive activities whether this is understood by us or not.
Businesses compete all the time and it doesn’t matter whether they are small or large, profit or not for profit, association or non-association they are all competing.
To make a difference to the organization that you want to work for you will have to compete. You will have to do your homework; on the organization that you are going to see, their competition, the state of the market and what you think could be coming next.
In doing your research you will be arming yourself with useful information that should help put you in a stronger position. Remember, that this research will no doubt be expected so you will have to delve deeper if you want to make a difference. The organization will want to know that you can bring energy and ideas that will enable them to keep winning business.
What are you going to be able to demonstrate at your interview that will give you a competitive edge over the other interviewees?
If you are stuck for where to start on being competitive here are a few ideas that will automatically start you on the process of differentiation to other candidates:
- Volunteer and help out at events
- Enter industry awards
- Study the habits of successful people
Have a look at Olympic athletes and discover for yourself the difference between the athletes that took part and those that won a medal. Your medal of course is that job offer and my guess is that you would prefer to win it rather than be a candidate that took part in the race.
There are times to co-operate and times to be competitive and both have their place. At the time of an interview you will need to be competitive. And even if you are later involved in a co-operation or collaboration of some description it would be worth remembering that in general the competitive people and organizations are the ones that other people want to work with.
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