A question regarding how you work with others can sometimes feel, to Job Seekers, like it was posed with an obvious answer. In reality, the question is much more challenging than the “of course I am” type of answer.
In our recurring series of articles looking at the most frequently asked questions in an interview, let’s today examine “Are You a Team Player?”
Why Is It Asked?
• Culture is Important – With many companies the goal is not only to employ someone who is qualified but also to match the position with someone who will be happy with the culture. The goal is to fit someone in an environment in which they are comfortable in order to improve the chances of retention. A misfire is very expensive both in terms of recruiting costs and on-boarding.
• Wave Makers Not Allowed – In this scenario, the prospective employer may want commonality of thinking and do not wish to employ people of differing thoughts. You will have to ask yourself whether or not this is a situation that you will be able to live with if offered the position.
• A Change is Wanted – Perhaps the company is trying to break away from their current authoritative type of style and are targeting people with a strong team background.
• Test of Your Arrogance – The interviewer may desire to see if you have worked well within a team before and are willing to readily acknowledge the efforts made by others.
A Job Seeker should try to research the organization prior to the interview to obtain a sense of their culture. This can be done through networking with current associates or by doing some Internet research. This will give you a chance to match your answer with the expected motive behind the question.
How Should It Be Answered?
• With Confidence – This is a frequently asked question so it is good planning to prepare your answer ahead of time. Practice it in front of friends and family to create an impactful yet natural-sounding statement.
• With an Example – Use a behavioral example of occasions when you worked well within a team structure. This will serve to comfort the interviewer since you used a real-world example of when you had such success.
• Keep It Business – In the instance of someone just getting started in his or her career, you may reflect on a school project or team sport. However, if you do have work experiences, reflect back on a work-related time when you meshed well with others.
• Stress Diversity – Express orally how you appreciate working within a group with different points of view. Stress how you believe the sum of all the parts of the team is much greater than the individual. This should not be a statement on racial or gender diversity but rather on the philosophy that differing perspectives are important for the decision-making process.
What Not To Do:
• Become long-winded – Your answer should be no more than 2-3 minutes long in order to maintain the attention of your interviewer. The longer it takes to answer a question, the more likely it is that you will make an unflattering statement about yourself or your team.
• Focus on Only You – Use an example of how the team worked really well together, not just, when you performed well in the team. The interviewer will be listening for perceived arrogance or if you truly value the notion of team.
• Give Mixed Messages – Don’t hit a home run by saying all the right things in the interview and then display arrogance in the rest of the discussion. When answering other questions during the interview, stress the importance of the team you worked with. Don’t make the rest of the conversation about how you overcame overwhelming odds to succeed despite your co-workers.
• Emphasize Those Who Did Not Carry Their Weight – If the question was to describe a time when you had to overcome adversity, then perhaps this would be relevant. However, since the question was about being a team player, then stress a positive team experience.
The “Team Player” question can be asked in many different forms. Any way you phrase the question, it comes back to whether or not you will work well with the current team. Convey that you are a positive person that seeks to collaborate and appreciates diversity of thought and you are well on your way to wowing them in the interview.
As always, best of luck in your job search.
The following has been prepared for the general information of WNYJobs readers. It is not meant to provide advice with respect to any specific legal or policy matter and should not be acted upon without verification by the reader.
Joe Stein
WNY Human Resources Professional
Feel free to contact Joe Stein regarding questions or comments at:
Joe Stein
