Regardless of the size of your future employer (some corporations employ hundreds of thousands of people globally), you will always belong to a small team. And even though your work may seem remote, or the job you try to get a position for a lonely wolf, you will cooperate with some people, in some way. No wonder you will face one, or more of the following questions: Tell us about a time you were successful on a team. Are you a team player? What’s your best and worst teamwork experience? Let’s learn how to deal with the questions belonging to this area.
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The Basics
- Most common interview questions belonging to this area: Are you a team player? Tell us about a time you worked on a team. What role do you play in a team? What do you enjoy the most and the least about teamwork?
- Less common questions belonging to the area: Do you prefer to work independently, or on a team? What does teamwork mean to you? Can you describe your best and worst teamwork experience ever? What kind of people do you enjoy working with? Tell us about a time you were successful on a team.
- Out of 10 random jobs, in how many cases will this area be tested during the hiring process: 9/10. As I suggested at the very beginning of this post, you will always work on some team. It doesn’t matter if the job is remote or you spend most of the time in front of a computer screen. You’ll always cooperate with someone, belong to some team. Hiring managers know from first-hand experience what it means to have a great team player onboard, and they also know the terrible consequences of the opposite scenario… That’s why they test your teamwork ability in almost every interview, and sometimes they do so with more than one question.
- Difficulty: 3/5. An average difficulty. It isn’t hard talking about your teamwork experience once you learn the basics, and prepare for the questions in advance. That means thinking about 2-3 teamwork scenarios from your life (or fictive ones), and understand how to show the right attitude to teamwork in each one of them. You should be able to do so once you’re done reading this page. Having said that, I experienced several times interviewees remaining quiet when facing questions about teamwork. Hence we certainly cannot label this area as an easy one.
- Main goals of the hiring managers with questions belonging to this area: Assessing your ability for teamwork. Learning how prone you are to conflicts and problems when working with others. Understanding your ideal role in a small team. Seeing whether you can give credit to other team members once you achieve success as a team.
- Your main goals with answers to questions belonging to this area: Showing right attitude to teamwork, and to tricky situations that may occur in any team (conflicts, ego battles, different directions various members want to take with the project, lack of leadership or too many leaders, etc). Convincing them that you are a team player.
7 sample answers
Sample answer no.1: Showing positive attitude to teamwork in general:
More than anything else, I enjoy the feeling of belonging somewhere. Being part of something bigger, sharing the same goal with my colleagues. I think that we live in a lonely era now. Modern technology was supposed to connect us together, but in reality more people feel lonely than ever before. And it is not easy to start meaningful relationships, to build meaningful teams. That’s why I love if I have a team of colleagues in the workplace, and we share both successes and failures together.
- Quick thing to notice here: We humans are social beings, and the feeling of “belonging” is important for everyone, regardless of whether they admit it or not. It is good referring to it. However, to make this answer even better, the candidate should point out what they try to contribute to the team, and how they help others to experience the feeling of “belonging”. It is rather incomplete as it is now.
Sample answer no. 2: Applicant speaking about problems in a team:
I enjoy almost everything about teamwork, but there is one thing I really dislike–pointless internal conflicts in the team. I experienced such conflicts on a daily basis in my last job. And it happened because we had too many big egos in our team, and some people always had to be right, and had no respect for opinions of their colleagues. Eventually they started to jeopardize work of each other, and the productivity of the entire team dropped terribly. I really hope that I won’t have such a negative experience in my new job, because other than that I really like teamwork.
- Quick thing to notice about this one: If you experienced teamwork problems in your previous job, make sure to define them clearly but without emotions. To make this answer even better, the applicant should explain what they tried to do to solve the problem, to deal with the “conflict of the big egos“.
Sample answer no. 3: Speaking about diverse teams in big corporations:
I just love the diversity of a typical team in a big corporation. It is an enriching experience to work with people from different cultural and religious background, sharing opinions, learning from each other. Such an environment also helps me see some hope for the future of humanity–that we can actually coexist together on this beautiful planet, without leading pointless wars and conflicts, without destroying our environment. Of course, I also try to play my part in such a team, and hopefully other team members can benefit from my experience, knowledge, and cultural background.
- Quick thing to notice about this answer: Diversity is the buzzword these days, and you should mention it when talking about teamwork in big corporations. This answer is better than the previous two, since the applicant doesn’t forget to mention his contribution, or at least how they try to improve the teamwork experience for everyone involved (“…try to play my part in such a team, and hopefully other team members can benefit from my experience…”)
Sample answer no. 4: No previous teamwork experience:
This is my first job application, and I did not belong to any team or sports club at the college. It just wasn’t a typical thing at our school. But I understand that I won’t be an isolated unit in this company. I will try my best to be attentive to the needs and feelings of my colleagues, to understand my role in a team, and to perform up to the expectations. Having said that, I am sure that things won’t always be perfect. We may experience some conflicts with colleagues, someone may try to take advantage of someone else who’s working extremely hard, and so on. But we cannot really avoid such things, and if a team has a good leader, they should be able to address these issues. From my position, I simply want to be the best colleague I can be, and I am sure that I will find more positives than negatives on teamwork.
- Quick thing to notice about this answer: An excellent answer for someone with no previous working experience. Notice that they mention both good and bad things about teamwork (“…I am sure that things won’t be always perfect. We may experience some conflicts…”). Also notice that the applicant takes responsibility when talking about his role on a team (“… I will try my best to be attentive to the needs and feelings of my colleagues, to understand my role in a team…”).
Sample answer no. 5: To a question about your best and worst teamwork experience:
The best one is definitely from school, when we ran a small student company with schoolmates. I really liked how everyone tried their best, that we could rely on each other to complete our tasks, and that while we talked openly about any issues, we did so without emotions. I would say I learned a lot in this team, and hope to bring this experience to the workplace with me. And the worst one is definitely from my part time job in a retail store. Two of my colleagues there did nothing, they were just bossing the part time workers, letting them do all the work while they spent time chatting or hiding in the back office. Having said that, I tried to not focus on it, and simply did my best to take care of my duties and treat everyone in the store nicely. At the end of the day, we cannot always choose our colleagues, and should try our best in the job regardless of who we are working with.
- Quick thing to notice about this one: Overall a good answer, and the strongest point is definitely how the applicant handled the bad teamwork experience in their part time job. They simply focused on their role and duties, and did not let the team problems to affect them more than necessary (“I tried to not focus on it, and simply did my best to take care of my duties…”).
Sample answer no. 6: Speaking about achieving success on a team:
We did an excellent job as team in my last corporate job, working on project XYZ. There was a lot of ambiguity, and we faced many challenges, with suppliers missing deadlines, and also with some environmental policies we struggled to adhere to. And while it was frustrating sometimes, we always encouraged each other, and stayed strong. Instead of starting conflict and blaming each other, we simply focused on the solution of each problem. Eventually we completed the project ahead of schedule, and it was a great feeling. The outcome would be very different without my excellent colleagues. I am grateful for this teamwork experience, and hope to contribute to a similar one in my new job.
- Quick thing to notice about this answer: Notice how the interviewee gives credit to other team members (“The outcome would be very different without my excellent colleagues…”). That’s exactly the attitude hiring managers want to see.
Sample answer no. 7: Answer to questions about your role in a team, whether you prefer to work independently, etc:
I am definitely a team player, and while I do not rely on others to take care of my tasks, I enjoy working on a team. When it comes to my role on a team, I do not mind taking on a leadership role. But I also do not struggle letting other, more experienced colleagues, to guide me and lead me in the job. Overall I would say I am pretty flexible when it comes to teamwork, and can adapt to an existing setting in the workplace.
- Quick thing to notice about this one: When you’re not sure what role you are supposed to play in a new team, the best answer is saying that you can “adapt to an existing setting in the workplace”. Of course, when the role is clearly defined as a leadership role, or some other role, you should position yourself in such a role in the interviews.
Advanced information
Mistakes people make while answering questions about teamwork in the interviews
- Focusing on either only negative or only positive experience with teamwork. Something like a perfect team doesn’t exist. Hiring managers understand it better than anyone else. It is a mistake only praising everything about teamwork, especially when you deal with scenario questions (“tell me about your teamwork experience…”). The key is to show realistic view of teamwork. Instead of hiding problems, name them clearly and without emotions, and explain how you tried to contribute to the solution of each one. If it didn’t work no problem, that’s simply reality of the corporate world. It is your attitude and effort that matters for us.
- Giving all credit for the success of a team to yourself. This mistake isn’t that common, but sure enough if you make it, you won’t get the job. We want to hire people who see the goods the others bring on the team. Employees who can praise others, and who do not egoistically see only their own role on team success. When you talk about any positive teamwork experience, make sure to at least briefly mention how other team members contributed to the success.
- Showing heated emotions. Before going to the interview, you should get over the negative emotions, at least in your head. Having bad memories and experiences from your previous team, it is easy to slip into accusations and heated talk when the interviewer asks you about your teamwork experience. But that’s not the way of getting hired, even when you are telling the truth. Sure, you can name the problems and even people responsible for them. Try to do so without emotions, however, and admit also your part of guilt.
- Wrong understanding of a role you should play on a team. Before every interview, you should read the job description carefully, and understand what role you should play in a team. As an example, it is a big mistake focusing on your leadership skills and role on a team, when in fact you are supposed to follow the lead of someone else in the new job.
Few points from the perspective of the hiring managers/interviewers
- We like to elaborate on questions about teamwork. Talking about teamwork in your interview, you can expect follow-up questions. For example, you name some negative teamwork experience. Sure enough, we’ll ask how you dealt with it, and what you tried to solve the problem. Another example: We ask what is your favorite role on a team. You say you are a coordinator. Sure enough, we will follow up, asking you to demonstrate this role in the team in your last job. When preparing for questions about teamwork, think about the scenarios you plan to narrate in detail, to get ready for eventual follow-up questions.
- No working experience doesn’t mean no teamwork experience. Saying that you don’t have any previous experience won’t save you here. We form teams naturally at school, in sport clubs, or even in the family. Teamwork is teamwork, and you can demonstrate the right attitude working on a team in any setting. While with some other questions we may accept an answer “I have no experience with this because it is my first job application”, we won’t be happy about such an answer when it comes to teamwork interview questions.
7 keywords to remember when answering questions belonging to this area
- There’s nothing like a perfect team, when talking about problems do so without emotions and blaming others, show your contribution to the success of the team, do not forget to give credit to others for team success, understand the role you should play in a team in your new job before going to the interview, when team isn’t good you still try your best to take care of your duties, show empathy for your colleagues.
So that’s it! You’ve just covered area no. 10 out of 25 areas that cover 99% of questions you may ever get in the interviews. Just 15 areas left! Check the next one: Leadership, or go back to homepage for the full list of 25 areas and pick one you want to learn about and practice right now.
