When you’re in an interview, you probably let the hiring manager know you’re a team player. But what do those words actually mean?
It has become one of the most common answers to interview questions about working with others. But without information beyond the words, what are you really communicating?? This season, take time out to hone in on your team player experience and be able to effectively prove you work well with others.
Here’s how to prove you’re a team player:
- How you communicate. Step one is to evaluate your means of communication. This goes across the board to include face-to-face interactions, phone calls, email, or even text. How do you approach conversations? To prove you’re a team player, it’s important to communicate your own communication skills to a potential employer.
- How you listen. Speaking and writing is only a part of communication. It’s also essential you focus on how you listen to others. Many of us have the bad habit of listening only long enough to formulate an answer. But to really understand someone, you need to practice active listening. This can make all the difference when it comes to working with a team.
- How you let it go. You don’t have to always agree on everything with everyone. But there will be some battles worth fighting and some that are just better left on the table. To be a team player, it’s important to know when to let something go. When to know that an argument isn’t worth it and the outcome won’t affect the grand scheme negatively.
- How you encourage. Teamwork is also about encouraging others to do their best work. A culture of gratitude goes a long way, and once you start the ball rolling, you’ll notice more people appreciating one another in your department. Demonstrate the ways in which you’ve encouraged others to succeed.
- How you innovate. Finally, being a team player is sometimes about creative problem solving. Companies do well to hire people with a variety of backgrounds and mindsets so everyone comes at a situation with a different perspective. So how do you innovate? What do you bring to the table that they haven’t seen yet?
Are you a team player looking for a new job? Contact the team at Harvard Resource Solutions, now hiring for jobs in Southeast MI.
