In the article by studying scientific literature, the concept of competition in various spheres of economic activity was substantiated, the types of competitiveness of an employee were investigated, a comparative analysis of the concepts of competitiveness and competitive-ability including linguistic; the concept of competitiveness of a vocational school is formulated. As a result of the study, the concept of competitiveness and competitive-ability is refined, because they both characterize the effectiveness of the function of economic entities and substantiated the difference between them. It is concluded that the competitiveness of a specialist is the presence of his ability to compete in the labor market and competitiveness. A specialist is the ability of a specialist to compete, that is the presence of his appropriate competencies and individual characteristics that allow him to win a competitive struggle. Consequently, competitiveness is defined as one of the professionally important qualities of a modern specialist. Attention is drawn to the understanding of competitive- ability as a certain quality of personality that contributes to its successful functioning in the society. It is emphasized that competitiveness depends on not only deep knowledge and skills but also in the presence of motives and value attitudes of future professional activities. It is concluded that the development of competitiveness should be the goal of a system of professional training of a specialist. The importance of competitiveness for development and changes taking place in modern management is determined. On the basis of the review of literary sources, the notion “competitiveness” of a graduate of a vocational school” is defined as the ability to meet the requirements of the employer during this period due to competitive (professional and individual) revenues in relation to other specialists in a particular field. Perspective is the research on the problem of skills development of self-realization of the individual and raising the intellectual and qualification level throughout life.