1.1 Written applications

When applying for a job that you know will require strong teamwork skills, you need to provide evidence of these skills in either your CV or application form.

In a CV, there are two main ways to emphasise your teamwork skills. The first way is by mentioning them in a relevant place, alongside your evidence for having those skills, e.g. in the work history section when discussing key responsibilities:

The second way is by creating a skills-based CV where ‘Teamwork’ is one of your subheadings. This second approach often works well for someone changing career direction who wants to emphasise the skills themselves rather than the field or industry in which they were developed. It can also be a useful approach for someone with limited experience in the workplace. The Prospects website shows an example of a skills based CV [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

If teamwork is important for the role, an employer’s application form will often include a relevant question such as:

• Give an example of a time when you made a positive contribution to a team and explain what the outcome was.
• Describe a time when you have had to work with others to achieve a goal.

Or they may ask you a broader question that will allow you to highlight your strong teamwork skills as part of your answer, such as:

• Briefly outline your relevant skills and experience.

• Why do you want to work at organisation X?

  In this one, highlight something about the organisation that illustrates effective teamwork and explain what you can contribute and why you want to be a part of that.

In the next sections you’ll explore interview questions in more detail, and learn about something called the STAR technique, which can be equally useful when applied to answering the types of application form questions outlined above.