Smart Ways to Show Team Player Skills on a Resume (With Examples)
Teamwork is one of the most sought after skills in the job market. Since many careers and projects require group work, the hiring manager expects to hire a person who can effectively collaborate with others and contribute to the team's success. Therefore, you need to emphasize a teamwork ability on a resume to show the employer you are the person they're looking for.
However, it is not enough to add the team player to your resume to catch the hiring manager's attention. You need to focus on relevant skills for your industry and list examples to prove you're a good team member.
In this article, you will learn how to say team player on a resume without overusing words like teamwork.
What does a "team player" mean?
The phrase team player generally means that you effectively interact with coworkers, contribute to a positive work environment, and can resolve conflicts when they arise. In some situations it also assumes the ability to contribute to group projects, manage diverse teams, and interact with others effectively.
Why are teamwork skills important? In today's workplace, it is important not only what you know and what skills you have, but also how you communicate and collaborate with others. Soft skills play a vital role, so with other things being equal, the employer is likely to hire a candidate with strong teamwork skills.
Let's look at the essential skill names and resume phrases instead of team player.
How to Say You're a Team Player on a Resume (Without Saying It)
Mentioning teamwork skills is important to show potential employers that you interact well with others. However, simply adding "team player" doesn't work. According to the statistics, adding the phrase “team player” to a resume can hurt your interview chances by 51%.
The phrase team player is so overused that recruiters are tired of seeing it too often on a resume. Replacing it with synonyms and giving examples will help you highlight good teamwork skills at work without making your resume sound cliche.
Here are the better words than team player you can add to your resume:
- Positive
- Collaborative
- Dependable
- Accountable
- Resourceful
- Supportive
- Team-oriented
- Cross-functional
- Inclusive
- Proactive communicator
- Cross-functional collaborator
- Dedicated
All these descriptive words subtly emphasize your strong communication skills and the ability to cooperate with others at work. At the same time, they don't sound overused and help create a more precise picture of what your strengths are. Use them as a professional way to say team player on your resume.
Where to use synonyms for "team player"?
You can add these team member skills anywhere on your resume, including:
- Your resume skills - list the most relevant skills as a bulleted list to attract the hiring manager's attention quickly.
- Your resume objective or summary - include 2-3 most important skills at the top of the resume to prove you're a strong team player.
- Your Experience section - showcase examples of how you improved the team's performance, leveraged communication tools, or gave positive feedback to others.
Here's how you can showcase excellent communication skills with examples.
Resume Examples That Show Teamwork Skills
Using teamwork resume examples shows employer your skills in action. They can see what problems you solved using your teamwork skills, and what results you achieved in a company when working closely with others.
Including numbers and achievements shows measurable impact and can set you apart from other candidates. So, when describing your workplace projects and tasks, be specific. Give numbers, percentages and context to showcase your ability to deliver results as a member of the team.
Examples of teamwork achievements resume:
- Participated in brainstorming sessions that identified product bottlenecks and developed innovative solutions to reduce monthly costs by 15%
- Worked in a team to develop a pitch for potential business partners, resulting in re-negotiating a contract with a 5% discount
- Mediated a conflict between two department heads, which led to a unified strategy and product launch ahead of schedule
- Served as a rotating team leader and used problem-solving skills to encourage equal participation, leading to a 12% increase in team engagement
- Coordinated with project managers and software developer teams on a process improvement resulting in a 20% increase in code efficiency
- Worked in a development team of 8 to deliver the project 2 months ahead of the schedule
- Member of a #1 sales team in the company nationwide
- Increased customer loyalty by 36% working as a part of customer success team
Where and How to Add Teamwork Skills in a Resume
Use teamwork skills in every section in your resume. Your ability to contribute to a healthy team can set you apart from other job-seekers.
Add it to your Summary section
Summary is the first thing that the recruiter is going to see, so it's perfectly reasonable to emphasize teamwork here. Again, you shouldn't put ‘team player', but rather expand on this qualification, adding some detail. It's best to organize a Summary of qualifications using sentences or a bulleted list with complete persuasive statements.
Here are the examples:
- Experienced working in a software development team on debugging the CRM software
- Worked closely with physician and nursing staff to ensure timely and quality patient care
- Coordinated between 4 departments in a construction firm to deliver the project ahead of schedule
List it in your Work Experience
Showcasing team member skills in your work history helps employers see where you applied your team player skills.
Simply adding "Provided constructive feedback" doesn't say much to employers. But if you write "Offered constructive feedback to subordinates monthly and updated their PDPs, which increased team productivity by 15%" proves that you can work with a team effectively and bring results by fostering open communication.
Add a dedicated Skills section
According to McKinsey, 41% of hiring managers look at your Skills section first. So, adding job-related skills in effective communication and collaboration can get you noticed.
Lists of skills are good for applicant tracking systems (ATS). By adding skills from the job posting, you will make your resume more ATS-friendly and increase your chances of landing an interview.
Format your skills as a bulleted list, placing it after your Summary section or after work experience. Keep it between 10 and 20 skills, depending on your experience. Include hard and soft skills, as well as software proficiency.
Adapt the resume for each job
Today, resumes should be tailored closely for a specific job. For that, you need to study the job posting and reflect the requested skills and qualifications on your resume. You can list these skills in a separate section, or incorporate them when describing job responsibilities.
Teamwork skills can be described with the following expressions:
- Thrives working as a member of the team
- Resolves problems and issues with clients
- Surpasses sales goals working as a part of the team.
Beat the ATS: Teamwork keywords for your resume
Employers use ATS software (or resume robots) to scan resumes. Nearly 70% of large companies now use ATS, so optimizing your resume with relevant keywords is a must to get seen. This is especially important for roles where teamwork is the must-have skill.
Here are some examples of keywords that show you are an effective team member:
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Teamwork skills examples for a Project Manager
In a PM resume, focus on fostering collaborative and productive team environment. Prove that you can build the atmosphere of mutual respect and encourage creative solutions to problems.
Add these skills on your resume:
- Project Planning
- Risk Management
- Scheduling
- Budget management
- Stakeholder management
- Team leadership
- Personal development
- Resource management
- Negotiation
- Agile methodologies
Teamwork skills for a Sales Representative
When picking for teamwork for a sales rep resume, focus on collaboration with internal teams, building rapport with clients, and gathering feedback to further develop product or service.
Here are the examples of soft skills to add to your resume:
- Lead generation
- Sales presentation
- Active listening
- Communication tools
- Relationship building
- Negotiation
- Customer service
- Problem-solving
- Time management
- Team collaboration skills
Top 8 Teamwork Skills Recruiters Want to See
Here are the most sought-after skills that prove you're a strong team player. These skills include empathy, communication, active listening, and more. Use them to enhance your resume for every industry and get noticed faster.
Verbal and written communication
The ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, is the foundation of successful teamwork. Employers value people who can communicate clearly and effectively in person, on the phone, or by email. Strong communication skills help you hold better meetings, resolve problems faster, and avoid misunderstandings in the workplace. On the flip side, slow, ineffective communication can slow down the progress of the entire team.
Active listening
Active listening is one of the basic teamwork skills. It means that, during the conversation, you focus on what the other person is saying and ask questions to understand them better. This skill is essential when you communicate with a client, coworker, or an external vendor. Listening actively and understanding the other person helps avoid misunderstandings and build trust between team members.
Giving and receiving feedback
To work effectively in a team, you need to learn how to give feedback to colleagues without offending them. Providing efficient feedback means commenting on the person's action or behavior, not their personality. On the flip side, you need to calmly accept critical comments from other team members and management, and use them for self-improvement.
Conflict resolution
Conflicts occur in any workplace. Disagreements about important issues, stress, and tension can cause friction. Professionals who can manage their emotions and handle conflict situations, or, better yet, mediate between other people, are a catch for any employer. For some positions, such as team leaders, supervisors, and HR, conflict management is a must-have skill.
Empathy
Emotional intelligence is even more important than intellectual abilities. By using it, you can effectively collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds, and understand the emotions and struggles of your coworkers. Plus, if you can work with your emotions and the emotions of others, you'll find it much easier to prevent conflicts or negotiate. It will help you come to an agreement faster and build trust.
Tolerance
It is one of the key teamwork skills in today's workplace. As employers encourage diversity, you are likely to work with people of different ages, gender, nationality, and sexual orientation. You need to find common ground with all these people and avoid prejudices in communication. This is essential for a healthy atmosphere in a team.
Positive thinking
Being too negative not only reflects poorly on your motivation and performance, but also influences the spirit of the team. People are more willing to work around someone who has positive vibes and approaches the challenges with a can-do attitude rather than complain.
Problem-solving
Companies hire employees to solve problems of a business, such as declining sales, poor online presence, issues with the corporate website, and so on. Show how you collaborated with coworkers to solve a particular problem for your previous employer, and share results if possible. Thus, you will present yourself as a reliable employee who can work with others to work out a solution to a problem.
For the best result, use these skills in all sections in a resume. Say, if you want to showcase your ability to communicate effectively, you may list "communication skills" in the Skills section and then include an example of when you used communication to resolve an issue at work in the Experience section.
How to Use "Team Player" with Action Phrases
Another great way of showing teamwork without saying team player is to use action verbs and phrases. These verbs emphasize your good teamwork skills, leadership impact, and contribution through examples.
Action verbs make your resume sound more confident and persuasive, which makes a better impression on a recruiter. Moreover, using them helps you match the tone of the job ad, which is great for ATS.
Here are the resume phrases instead of team member:
- Collaborated
- Coordinated
- Planned
- Integrated
- Facilitated
- Partnered
- Explained
- Teamed
- Mentored
- Trained
- Influenced
- Supervised
Example phrases to list team player skills on your resume:
- Coordinated with a cross-functional team
- Trained junior team members
- Facilitated weekly project meetings
- Supported the project coordinator
- Mediated interdepartmental conflicts.
Common Resume Mistakes: What NOT to Write
When writing a team player resume, beware of the mistakes as follows:
- em>Overusing team player/team leader. Both keywords are fine, but if you use them repeatedly in every resume section, they start to sound like buzzwords. Use other words for teamwork skills and replace them with synonyms.
- em>Lack of examples. Simply listing skill names is good, but not enough to impress picky hiring managers. When describing your jobs or projects, ensure to give examples and context of how you applied these skills to bring results at work.
- em>Not tailoring your resume. Generic resumes get tossed by ATS systems before the hiring manager reads them. Customize the teamwork skills for each job description to ensure a perfect match with your target position.
How to list team leader skills on your resume?
Leadership is one of the most important teamwork skills. It shows that you can manage and coordinate others, and lead a successful team to complete the organizational goals. To list leadership skills on your resume, focus on the specific details. Write how many people you managed, what team's goals they achieved under your direction, or how you used conflict management skills to overcome team differences.
If you were not a formal leader, it is important to emphasize your leadership abilities anyway. Focus on your autonomy and the ability to make decisions with no direction, or mention how you supported other team players. Such examples will showcase your leadership potential and make you a valuable candidate.
How to improve teamwork skills?
To succeed in your career, it is not enough to add teamwork skills to your resume. It is necessary to improve them and acquire new ones. The good news is, with enough practice, you can develop excellent teamwork abilities and enhance your career prospects.
Here are some ways in which you can develop top teamwork skills:
- Online courses and training - to quickly boost your soft skills, consider attending additional training. Most of the courses are available online. By attending webinars, workshops, and teamwork/communication courses, you will learn how to work collaboratively, communicate better and lead others.
- Be receptive to feedback - if you want to develop professionally, start with understanding your areas for growth. Reach out to your supervisor, mentor, or team members and ask them to provide honest feedback about your performance. By incorporating this feedback, you will be able to make a positive change.
- Work on your dependability - the first step towards effective teamwork is staying true to your commitments. If you promised to complete that marketing report by Thursday, keep this promise even if you will have to work extra hours. It will help create an atmosphere of trust in your team.
- Build relationships - try to learn more about the people you work with. Participate in team lunches, team-building activities, and corporate events. This will help you know your coworkers on a personal level and nurture a positive, supportive environment at work.
- Master remote collaboration tools - as more and more people work from home, proficiency with remote cooperation tools becomes a must-have. Consider mastering such skills as video conferencing tools, messengers, Google Suite, and more.
By incorporating these approaches to building your teamwork skills, you can further develop your ability to collaborate effectively and contribute to team success.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a better way to say “team player” on a resume?
Instead of using “team player,” consider phrases like “collaborative contributor,” “cross-functional collaborator,” or “effective team communicator.” These alternatives sound more professional and show how you contribute to team outcomes.
How do I replace “team player” in my resume summary?
Use performance-focused language. For example: “Consistently collaborated with cross-departmental teams to exceed project goals by 15%.” This shows teamwork without the cliché.
What teamwork skills should I list on a resume?
Top teamwork skills include communication, conflict resolution, empathy, collaboration, and adaptability. These can be highlighted in your skills section or integrated into job descriptions.
How can I write about teamwork in a resume with little experience?
You can reference group projects, volunteer experience, or internships. Use phrases like “contributed to team deliverables” or “supported project coordination with peers.”
Is it okay to say “team player” on a resume for a leadership role?
While it's better to avoid the term directly, you can show leadership and collaboration through actions. Say “led cross-functional teams” or “fostered a team-focused culture.”
How do I showcase team collaboration in a resume for remote roles?
Use phrases like “remote collaboration,” “virtual teamwork,” or “cross-location coordination” to reflect modern work environments and distributed teams.