Learn how to showcase your team-player attitude on your CV

We all know the importance of teamwork in the workplace – it's not just about individual achievements but how well you collaborate with others to achieve common goals. Demonstrating your teamwork prowess not only enhances your application, but also sets you apart as a well-rounded candidate who thrives in collaborative environments. Read on to learn how to effectively incorporate teamwork skills on your CV, complete with real-life examples to strengthen your job application.

What is teamwork?

According to the Collins English Dictionary, teamwork is “the cooperative work done by a team,” and it is “the ability to work efficiently as a team.” What it says on the tin, really.

Teamwork is an essential part of most work environments and requires four core abilities:

  1. The ability to communicate effectively with other team members

  2. The insight to recognise and understand the viewpoints of others

  3. A realisation and appreciation of the level of contribution that you're expected to make

  4. The capacity to build and sustain robust relationships with colleagues

Why highlighting teamwork skills on your CV matters

Teamwork is an essential soft skill, and it's often listed as a requirement in job descriptions, so demonstrating it on your CV is a must. Here are a few other reasons why highlighting teamwork skills on your CV matters:

  • Essential for most jobs: Teamwork is crucial in almost any role, ensuring projects and tasks run smoothly and effectively

  • Strengthens your application: As employers need team players, highlighting teamwork skills on your CV makes you a more attractive candidate

  • Reflects well in interviews: Demonstrating teamwork on your CV gives you concrete examples to discuss in interviews, strengthening your responses

  • Illustrates well-roundedness: Teamwork skills show that you have a balanced skill set, combining technical abilities with interpersonal strengths

  • Fits company culture: Companies value a collaborative culture – strong teamwork skills show you're a good fit

  • Reveals leadership potential: Experience in teams supplements any communication skills expressed on your CV, and indicates your capability to influence and take initiative

  • Demonstrates adaptability: Working with others shows you can adapt to different roles and personalities

How to demonstrate teamwork skills on your CV

There are several effective ways to showcase your teamwork skills on your CV. It's essential to tailor your CV and align it with the specific requirements outlined in the job description.

If the job listing emphasises “teamwork,” employers and applicant tracking systems (ATS) will search for CV-related keywords. Remember, teamwork involves various soft skills, such as communication, conflict resolution, organisational skills, and other people skills, which are often intertwined. 

Decide which teamwork skills to add to your CV, and aim to blend these soft skills seamlessly throughout the document. To effectively do this, consider the following guidelines:

Incorporate teamwork skills in your personal statement

The personal statement on your CV is a great place to highlight any essential skills, as it's often the first part recruiters read. If you're applying for a role where teamwork is critical, your personal statement is a great place to highlight your competency in this area.

Include teamwork in the key skills section

When populating the key skills and core competency section of your CV, you could zoom in on teamwork skills and related competencies. If you explicitly list teamwork as one of your core skills, you must support it with examples throughout your CV.

Use specific examples

Look for opportunities throughout your CV to demonstrate teamwork skills examples. After all, showing you're a team player on your CV is much stronger than saying it. This could include describing team projects, leadership roles, team-based roles, and what you achieved.

Quantify achievements and use action verbs

When documenting examples of teamwork skills on your CV, bolster them with specific facts and figures to quantify your achievements and make them more tangible for the prospective employer. Also, incorporate action verbs to add power and confidence to your statements.

Mention relevant training

If you have any relevant training or certifications related to teamwork, collaboration, or communication, reference this in your education section. It will validate your skills and knowledge in this area and enhance your credibility as a candidate, showing that you have invested time and effort into honing your teamwork skills.

21 examples of excellent teamwork skills on a CV

It's always best to show, not just tell, on a CV. Avoid the cliché of claiming to be an “excellent team player” without any hard evidence to back it up.

You need good examples of teamwork throughout your CV to show where you have excelled in team environments and consistently delivered your best contributions.

Here are examples of crucial teamwork-related skills and how you could effectively incorporate them into your CV:

Teamwork skills

  1. Undertook ad hoc administrative duties for other team members as needed, contributing to a 15% increase in team efficiency during peak periods

  2. Supported team members in meeting project deadlines, contributing to a 10% increase in team productivity

  3. Assisted in training new team members, leading to a 25% reduction in onboarding time and a quicker integration into team workflows.

Collaboration skills

  1. Established partnerships with external stakeholders to expand market reach, leading to a 40% increase in client acquisitions

  2. Negotiated partnerships with vendors, reducing procurement costs by 20% and improving supply chain efficiency

  3. Collaborated with research teams to publish industry-leading insights, enhancing the company's reputation as a thought leader

Communication skills

  1. Kept channels of communication open and transparent during team meetings, resulting in a 25% increase in meeting efficiency

  2. Facilitated weekly team meetings, improving communication flow and reducing project timeline delays by 20%

  3. Drafted and circulated monthly progress reports, improving transparency and accountability within the team

Conflict-resolution skills

  1. Negotiated agreements between stakeholders, resulting in a 20% increase in project collaboration effectiveness

  2. Implemented a conflict mediation process that reduced team disputes by 40% over six months

  3. Resolved 95% of team conflicts within 24 hours, minimising disruptions to project timelines

Active listening skills

  1. Applied active listening techniques during team meetings, resulting in a 25% increase in idea generation and problem-solving

  2. Solicited feedback from team members, leading to a 15% improvement in project outcomes based on their insights

  3. Implemented suggestions from team feedback sessions, enhancing team morale and productivity by 20%

Self-awareness skills

  1. Identified personal biases and actively sought diverse perspectives, enhancing team creativity by 25%

  2. Took responsibility for errors and initiated corrective actions, resulting in a 10% reduction in project rework

  3. Participated in leadership training, demonstrating a 30% increase in leadership effectiveness within the team

Leadership skills

  1. Represented the team in senior management meetings, influencing decisions that led to a 10% budget increase for project resources

  2. Led a team of 10 members through a project that resulted in a 30% increase in revenue

  3. Inspired and motivated team members, contributing to a 25% improvement in team engagement scores

Keen to blow your own trumpet about how great you are at gelling with any team but need more help in incorporating teamwork skills on your CV? Check out TopCV's free review for professional advice, a vital first step to getting your CV in tip-top shape for the job market.

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