Team workers

Team work is all about how you work with other people. How do you support them in achieving the group's task? Within this lies communicating with other people, contributing to an overall objective, and supporting and cooperating with others to order to complete a task. When thinking about teamwork, it's important to consider your role within that team as a facilitator - what do you do to allow that group to succeed? Teamwork relies on a lot of other skills (communication, organisation) and you are likely to be using it without necessarily knowing.
Reflect:
- What strengths do you bring to a team?
- Can you show you work collaboratively towards a shared goal?
- How do you adapt when working with diverse people and teams?
- Do you make sure everyone feels respected, valued, and able to participate?
In the next section you will see how you can develop this skill.
Develop your team working skills!
Here you will find some suggested activities that you can do to enhance your team working skills:
- Any group projects you a part of or group presentations you deliver.
- Being part of an Executive Committee in any society (elected by the society members to run it).
- Work experience/placements where you work in any team.
- Volunteering in any capacity where you cooperate with other people.
To learn more about employability and how to access opportunities to help you develop in this area, take a look at our employability booklet (aimed at new students) which provides all you need to know.
Demonstrate your employability skills
You will be asked to provide evidence of your skills through the job application and interview process – you can talk about where, when, why and how successfully you have used your employability skills.
We would recommend keeping a record of evidence of the skills you have developed so that you can refer to them when submitting applications or preparing for interviews. Our Employability Skills Checklist and Activity can be a starting point.
Reflect:
- What skills you are using during your study?
- Can you record experiences as you go along?
- Are there skills and qualities that you are struggling to evidence?
- How will you maintain your skills audit?
- Do you need to take action to bridge a skills gap?

Be positive and relevant
- Give examples of the most relevant skills first from your job, internship or work experience
- Use confident language to describe your skills, for example, praise employers have given you.
- Better to focus on transferable skills than routine tasks on your CV, gained through part-time jobs.
Sell your skills in different ways
These are just a few examples:
- Social Media including a Linked-In Profile
- Networking opportunities
- CV, Covering Letters, Application Forms
- Interview and Assessment Centres
- Presentations
Think beyond common skills
Our Employability Skills are probably ones you are familiar with. But there are some you might not be familiar with, such as meta-skills. A meta-skill like a master skill – it's something that can help you in lots of different environments.
Think also about:
- Subject skills e.g. Software, use of Lab equipment or research methodology
- Talents and abilities e.g. Languages, drawing skills, athletic
- Personal qualities e.g. Calmness, tenacious, creative, supportive
Match skills to your employer
Research the employer – what is their company culture? Look on their website and see what their company beliefs are.
Look at the job description you have. You should be able to find some of the employability skills they are looking for.
Use the STAR technique to help you relate the employability skills into your answers and examples. Read our blog post written by our careers adviser, Adam Taylor, on the STAR technique.
Resources
- Forge your own career path
- Why be Enterprising
- Psychometric Tests in Recruitment Processes
- Emotional Intelligence
- Writing a Reflective Log
Our experts have selected further Employability resources for you to use.
Speak to a careers adviser
Our Careers Advisers are on hand to help. Book an appointment on Advantage or by calling 0161 295 0023 (option 5).
Appointments are available for current students and graduates of the University of Salford only.