Resume Writing
Reviewed by
Margaret Buj
Interview and Career Coach
Updated on May 31st, 2022
Teamwork skillsin the workplace are essential for the vast majority of jobs. Employers expect their employees to be able to work effectively together. Being a‘team player’ typicallyappears on both job postings and resumes nowadays.
Employers try to assess a candidate’s collaborative teamwork skills during interviews and when they look through resumes. Group interviews, designed to measure an individual’s group work skills, are becoming increasingly common.
However, just to reach the all-important interview stage, it’s important to convince a recruiter that you have strong teamwork skills and will be able to work in harmony with your future colleagues. However, just adding buzzwords to your resume isn’t enough, you need to understand how toconvey teamwork on your resume. In fact, just including “teamwork” as a keyword on your resume won’t benefit you at all – you need to demonstrate that you’re a team player
Remember, teamwork skills should be treated no differently to the rest of your abilities. Your resume should be tailored to meet the needs of the job. Using resume templates is an effective way of doing this quickly.
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How to Convey Teamwork on a Resume
If you’ve ever received any form of recognition for your teamwork skills, this is worth mentioning on your resume. You may have a team player award, served as team leader, coordinated a project, or been given a special role which involves liaising between team members.
Another effective way to show collaboration skills on your resume is to include them in the skills section of your resume. The smartest thing to do is customize this for each job application to clearly show how your skill set matches the job requirements.
The first thing to do is to identify the keywords in the job description and write a teamwork skills checklist. Remember that employers now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan resumes, so if your resume doesn’t contain the right keywords the employer won’t even see it.
At the same time, you need to do more than just use the keywords. Just saying you’re a team player on your resume isn’t convincing. It’s much more effective to include specific examples of the actions you took as a team and what the successful outcome was.
You can also include teamwork examples in other sections of your resume, such as your work experience section.
Teamwork Skills Examples
How to mention these skills on your resume? Be concise, use an action verb, and if possible, use a figure or statistical evidence to back it up. Look at the below examples of how to describe teamwork skills.
Liaised between 3 departments to deliver the project ahead of schedule.
Led a team of 15 people and increased sales by 15%.
Worked with 6 other fundraisers to raise over $800.
We surpassed ouryearly targets 3 years running.
Increased sales by 42% over a 1-year period.
Motivated staff with a bonus increase of 10% and sales thrived by 16%.
Created a monthly rota system that distributed work evenly and improved employee satisfaction by 45%.
Doubled our yearly target each year to produce $340,000 gross takings over a 3-year period.
Fundraised 35% more each year for the company’s chosen charity.
TOP TIP: Don’t go over the top with these numbers. Remember that not all jobs can be analyzed in such a way and that one or two points with statistics are enough.
Top 10 Teamwork Skills for Resumes
What teamwork skills are essential to the workplace? Here are some of the most important collaboration skills which employers value.
1. Reliability and Punctuality
Completing tasks on time and being punctual arebasic abilities. Reliable team members gain the trust of their colleagues and bosses and become valued workers. A team working well and efficiently relies on these core skills and it’s important to highlight these skills on your resume.
2. Verbal and Written Communication Skills
Whether it be by phone, email, or face-to-face, being able to clearly communicate your ideas to other people is an important part of most jobs. People with poor communication skills are difficult to work with and can be a nightmare to manage. This is one of the key areas employers assess during job interviews.
3. Listening Skills
Good listening skills are an essential part of being an effective team member. It’s key to following instructions, cooperating as a unit, and getting along with colleagues and clients. Without possessing strong listening skills it’s difficult to show empathy and understanding. This is another key skill employers test during job interviews.
4. Positivity
Both positivity and negativity are both contagious forces of energy. Everyone wants to work with colleagues, clients, and bosses who have a positive mindset. If you demonstrate any negativity on your resume or during the job interview, you probably won’t get hired. Negative people are more likely to complain, cause problems, and lack motivation.
5. Conflict Management
Work can be tense, stressful, and problematic. This can cause friction between team members and this needs to be resolved if the team is to continue functioning. The ability to mediate between other people is a valuable skill which employers look for in a number of roles including managers, team leaders, and HR managers.
6. Organizing and Planning
A team player who looks out for the rest of the team by planning ahead or aiding the group to stick to the plan enables the group to remain organized. Being able to keep on top of your own work all the while looking out for others shows competence and also helps to prove to your superiors that you are capable of managing a team.
7. Problem-solving
Whether visible or invisible, problems are typical in any workplace or team and sometimes they are up to you to solve. Regardless as to whether you are given a problem by others in your team to resolve or you detect your own problem and resolve it, both of these problem-solving qualities are of worth in the workplace. If you’re someone who enjoys solving problems or someone who stays calm during problem periods, you can be a great asset to your team and become a reliable teammate.
8. Decision-making
Some find it tough, others easy; making decisions is not for everyone. A team player who doesn’t enjoy putting their foot down should seek to contribute to making the decision by being present in group meetings, talking it through, and providing for and against arguments. Part of decision-making, after all, is not the decision itself but how and with whom you make it.
9. Persuasive Skills
Have you ever agreed with all of your team on a certain topic and found it difficult to get the last team member on board? Sometimes all it takes is a simple conversation that can help that person see your point of view and moreover, understand it. Part of being persuasive is not just about changing people’s minds, it’s about empathizing with others, connecting, and being able to understand one another. This is a teamwork quality like no other and those who possess this quality can often be the team glue.
10. Feedback Skills
Constructive criticism and evaluations all have their place when it comes to teamwork and it’s important to make sure the traffic flows in both directions. Feedback should always be welcome amongst both team players and superiors. Giving feedback doesn’t have to be a negative process and helps everyone to work on themselves.
Using an online resume builder is an effective way of quickly producing professional-looking resumes which you can tailor for each application. Read this guide on how to write a resume for more tips.
FAQs
What is an example of teamwork skills? ›
Examples of Teamwork Skills
Working well and developing effective relationships with diverse personalities. Developing and maintaining good relationships with co-workers and managers. Maintaining open lines of communication with others. Observing and coaching other employees.
- Hold a Brainstorming Session. ...
- Great Teams Trust Each Other. ...
- Willingness to Share Expertise. ...
- Complement One Another. ...
- Be Open to Suggestion. ...
- Rise and Fall Together.
Teamwork skills involve your ability to work well with others. They include communication, listening, collaboration, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills.
Is teamwork a skill for resume? ›Teamwork skills in the workplace are essential for the vast majority of jobs. Employers expect their employees to be able to work effectively together. Being a 'team player' typically appears on both job postings and resumes nowadays.
Should I put teamwork on resume? ›Your ability to articulate your teamwork skills and experiences will be a vital element on your resume. Prospective employers will usually want to see examples of effective teamwork and ask you about your teamwork experiences, skills, knowledge and abilities around teamwork when they are considering you for a job.
Can you give me an example of teamwork experience? ›Example: “I worked on a textbook sales team during a slow summer season. I scheduled brainstorming meetings where our group could come together to find innovative solutions and new sales tactics. We took the time to listen to everyone's ideas, and by the end of the summer, we had exceeded our sales goals by 20%.”
What are five 5 skills that your team should have? ›- Clear, Effective Communication. ...
- Emotional Intelligence. ...
- Organization. ...
- Ability to Delegate. ...
- Openness. ...
- Problem-Solving. ...
- Decision-Making.
Teamwork happens when people work together toward a common goal. That goal could be professional or personal. You can work as a team to move a couch up a flight of stairs, launch a work project, or play soccer. Defining teamwork is simple, but understanding how to work well as a team can be complicated.
What are the 3 main components of teamwork? ›Teams need to attend to three elements in order to be successful in their work: task, relationship, and process. Balancing and attending to these three can lead to high functioning, creative, successful teams.
What are 7 elements of teamwork? ›- Commitment.
- Respect.
- Accountability.
- Delegation.
- Support.
- Plans.
What are the 6 teamwork skills? ›
- Common Purpose. ...
- A Common Approach. ...
- Complementary Abilities. ...
- Mutual Accountability. ...
- Enabling Structure. ...
- Inspiring Leader.
Use 'action' words such as achieved, awarded, organised, led, assisted, managed, increased, developed, built or won. Use positive words to describe yourself and your achievements such as accurate, willing to learn, organised, hardworking, dependable, motivated or creative.
How do you describe team handling experience on a resume? ›- Use keywords such as “organized”, “developed”, “supported”, “created”, “analyzed”, “improved”, “optimized”, “solved”
- Make sure to describe what teams you managed, what number of people, and important tasks you completed with them.
Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility.
Is teamwork an ability or skill? ›Teamwork skills are the qualities and abilities that allow you to work well with others during conversations, projects, meetings or other collaborations. Having teamwork skills is dependent on your ability to communicate well, actively listen and be responsible and honest.
What are the 7 core skills? ›...
The seven core skills are:
- Alternative text.
- Contrast.
- Headings.
- Links.
- Lists.
- Tables.
- Video and audio.
- Communication. Depending on the job, communication means being clear about what you mean and what you want to achieve when you talk or write. ...
- Teamwork. ...
- Problem solving. ...
- Initiative and enterprise. ...
- Planning and organising. ...
- Self-management. ...
- Learning. ...
- Technology.
- Communication Skills: Communication is an important part of most any role no matter what field you're in. ...
- Teamwork: Teamwork is another valuable asset that you can bring to the table. ...
- Initiative:
Teamwork is, “The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance.
What are 4 team building skills? ›- Communication. Communication is the foundation of effective teamwork. ...
- Time management. ...
- Problem-solving. ...
- Listening. ...
- Critical thinking. ...
- Collaboration. ...
- Leadership.
What are the 8 roles in teams? ›
- Coordinator.
- Shaper.
- Plant.
- Monitor-Evaluator.
- Implementer.
- Resource Investigator.
- Team Worker.
- Finisher.
- 1) They communicate well with each other. ...
- 2) They focus on goals and results. ...
- 3) Everyone contributes their fair share. ...
- 4) They offer each other support. ...
- 5) Team members are diverse. ...
- 6) Good leadership. ...
- 7) They're organized. ...
- 8) They have fun.
In a nutshell, your answer to the question 'What is teamwork? ' should articulate the meaning of our 'hero' word 'teamwork' correctly, which is: A group effort by many people to achieve a common goal or complete a task as effectively and as efficiently as possible. Obviously this is a very basic or simplistic answer.
What are the 4 important elements of team working? ›To establish an effective team – there are four essential elements: Goals, Roles, Interpersonal Relationships and Processes.
What are 8 characteristics of a strong team? ›...
This culture of trust helps everyone:
- Bring their full selves to the job.
- Take risks.
- Share ideas.
- Innovate together.
- Clear, Elevating Goal.
- Results-Driven Structure.
- Competent Team Members.
- Unified Commitment.
- Collaborative Climate.
- Standards of Excellence.
- External Support and Recognition.
- Leadership.
In the chronological format, your work history is followed by a list of eight to 10 key skills. Focus on your top soft and hard skills for your resume, and give examples of how you've applied your skills in past jobs under your work history entries.
What are the 7 elements of skills resume? ›...
The 7 Ingredients of a Well-Written Entry-Level Résumé
- Font and point size. ...
- Contact information. ...
- Objective. ...
- Summary. ...
- Education. ...
- Experience. ...
- Skills.
- Critical thinking and problem solving.
- Teamwork and collaboration.
- Professionalism and strong work ethic.
- Oral and written communications skills.
- Leadership.
You should list 4 to 10 skills on a resume. The number of hard and soft skills you include on your resume depends on the job you want, but 4 to 10 is enough for most candidates.
How do you say collaborate with your team on a resume? ›
- Mention times when you had to work as part of a large team.
- Describe some team issues you have helped resolve.
- Talk about projects that had to be done in no time.
- Demonstrate how creative you can be when tackling unfamiliar problems.
- “Having you on the team makes a huge difference.”
- “You always find a way to get it done – and done well!”
- “It's really admirable how you always see projects through from conception to completion.”
- “Thank you for always speaking up in team meetings and providing a unique perspective.”