Who do you think are our two major
competitors?
"Who
do you think are our two major competitors?"
I never received this question, but it is very likely if it is important to
know competitors. Make sure during your research, you also investigate the
competitors of the company you are interviewing for. You can make your answer
if you know more details such as market percentage of each company, or if it is
a product company, what products they make. For the long answer, I'll give an
example of a person interviewing for a marketing position for McDonalds. This
is a good example, because one of the competitors is obvious. It is Burger
King. But what is the second competitor. That is the significance of this
example. It gives you an opportunity to explain your opinion of the second
competitor. But the figures I'm giving for all the answers are fake. You should
make sure you research numbers so you can use them in your answers.
Short Answers
"
The
number one competitor to Verizon is Cingular. After they merged with AT&T,
they became the largest cell phone provider with a 19% market control. The next
competitor is Nextel. Although they only have 10% of the market, they are
increasing in strength."
"
The
two competitors of Nokia are Motorola and Samsung. Motorola has a strong
presence in the United States where Samsung is more global."
"
Microsoft
is competing with many different companies because Microsoft provides many
different software. MSN is growing and AOL is the number one competitor for
this business, while the Microsoft OS is challenged by Linux because it's free."
Long Answer
"
The
biggest competitor is Burger King. Where ever you see a McDonalds, it's common
to see Burger King near by. They specialize in flame broiled burgers and use
that as their marketing strategy. The Whopper is their number one selling
burger selling approximately 30% more than all their other burgers. The second
competitor is Wendy's. Although in some regions other hamburger stores sell
more, if you take international sales into consideration, Wendy's clearly is a
strong competitor. They advertise opening late and concentrate on their dollar
menu luring people in to buy other more expensive items."
This example clearly demonstrates knowledge about the industry instead of just
McDonalds. Knowing the industry is important because and this question gives
you the opportunity to show that off. This example also demonstrates an
understanding of the international aspect of selling burgers. Finally, their
marketing strategy is included in the answer. When you are interviewing for a
position, make sure you know as much detail as you can to show that you are
knowledgeable about the whole industry.