Assess Job Candidates' Teamwork Skills

Interview questions about teamwork.

When employees work well in teams, you'll have a productive, efficient, and even inventive company. It will be a place where people enjoy coming to work, which may offer a competitive advantage in a tight job market. Testing for teamwork skills as part of your pre-employment personality assessment can help you find employees who have the kinds of team-oriented skills that help your company succeed.

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Why are teamwork skills important in the workplace?

Being able to work as part of a team is critical for success in many jobs. Without testing the teamwork skills of your candidates, you're more likely to hire people with attitudes and behaviors that can harm well-functioning work teams.

For example, when you hire someone who isn't a work team player, you can experience issues such as:

  • Toxic work environment
  • Team conflicts and workplace hostility
  • Destructive gossipping and creation of cliques
  • Talking down to and about others
  • Emotional and physical discomfort
  • Oversharing and bringing personal issues to work
  • Complaints without solutions
Why are teamwork skills important in the workplace?

What is teamwork and why is it worth building?

Good teamwork doesn't just eliminate problems like those above, it creates opportunities for growth, profit, customer satisfaction, innovation, risk reduction and more. Most human beings are naturally team-oriented. Hiring people who excel in working with others will help you build a positive culture.

Examples of teamwork skills you can test for.

Examples of teamwork skills you can test job candidates for

Identifying qualities associated with a team player at work during personality testing will help you find potential employees that can become an asset to your other employees and company. Assessing teamwork skills before your interview process makes it easy to identify important team-oriented skills and traits:

  • Good communicator

  • Empathetic

  • Willing to take direction

  • Receptive to feedback

  • Generous with energy and effort

  • Quick with praise

  • Asks questions and encourages others

  • Doesn't insist on being right

  • Has a positive attitude

  • Values diversity

You can test for teamwork skills and uncover the traits of a strong work team player with a workplace personality test.

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Can teamwork skills be improved?

While teamwork comes naturally for some, others don't have existing skills. The good thing is team oriented skills can be learned. Many companies use the Hire Success® personality test to establish a baseline for their employees. The insights from personality testing can guide your approach to improving your employees' teamwork skills and give you a solid foundation for building team players.

Can you assess teamwork skills through job interviews?

You may try to evaluate a job candidate's teamwork skills during an interview. The problem is that it's hard to get objective and comparable data using this method. This can be especially difficult when several people are involved in the interviewing process. Testing for teamwork skills early in your process can help you conduct more effective interviews and provide you with data for comparing applicants against candidate profiles.

Interview questions about teamwork

Regardless of the position you're hiring for, it's crucial to enter your interviews prepared. Administering the Hire Success® Personality Test early in your hiring process will provide you with useful insights and suggestions for areas to explore more deeply with your candidates. Some example interview questions about teamwork include:

  • Do you enjoy working on teams?
  • Can you provide examples of your skills working on a team?
  • Would you give an example of working on a team when things went well?
  • How about an example of being on a team when things didn't go well?
  • What is your biggest contribution to the teams of which you have been part?
Can you assess teamwork skills through job interviews?
Does everyone have to be a team player?

Does everyone have to be a team player?

Not everyone is or wants to be a team player. Some employees prefer to remain focused and work on their own. They may appreciate the opportunity to fix their attention on a task and run with it with very little input from others. That said, independent workers don't have to become team players in order to contribute to your company. Diversity in work styles among your staff can greatly improve your company's success. However, the key is to identify independent workers early in the hiring process and ensure they enter positions that correspond with their skills, character traits, and work preferences.

Start hiring honest,
competent and reliable team members

Whether team-building, hiring a few people to focus on tasks alone, or both, the Hire Success® Personality Test helps you identify the people most suited to your teams and tasks. Making the right choices in hiring will have a long-term impact on the success of your company. Assessing teamwork skills will help you make the right choices that enhance the chance of success for the candidate and your business.

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