Acing Team Interviews and Proving Your Teamwork Skills

Acing Team Interviews and Proving Your Teamwork SkillsAcing Team Interviews and Proving Your Teamwork Skills28Team bewerberinterviews, both in person or via video interviews, are increasingly common pit stops in the interview process. Why? Team interviews help companies identify some of the most wanted qualities in job candidates.Here are tips to acing gruppe interviews and proving your gruppework skillsQualities Wanted in Job CandidatesTeamwork.Teamwork is one of the top 10 soft skills that employers look for when hiring, according to a CareerBuilder survey, and not even flex workers are excluded from this rising expectation. With the help of collaboration software, flex workers no longer have barriers to gruppework and must be able to prove their abilities to work in groups.Collaboration. Businesses highly value the many benefits of collaboration increased productivity, accelerated projects, improved customer service, and innovation. Through team collaboration, virtual workers also boost their presence, develop better accountability, raise engagement, and beat isolation.Culture fit. About 82 percent of respondents in a 2013 Cubiks survey said measuring culture fit matters. Its a key indicator of engagement, performance, and long-term commitment. Speeding up the process of elimination, team interviews produce mora well-rounded decisions on whether a candidate fits by leveraging multiple insights on what a companys culture is, as well as the teams unique culture.How to Demonstrate Teamwork in Team InterviewsAll of the tactics you arm yourself with for one-on-one interviews still matter- your body language, tone, eye contact, company knowledge- but for team interviews you also want toLook for culture clues. Thoroughly read the job description and comb the companys social media profiles for clues to understand their culture. Think about the keywords and images that sum up their work environment, values, and mission, and ways in which they align with your work sty le. Use this information to answer questions about your teamwork experience and work preferences.Know thyself. Know how to sell your unique team personality. Youre not going to approach work in exactly the same way as everyone on the team, and even if you try to match everyone else, youll probably sound inauthentic. Instead, think about your typical role within a team. Are you the leader, the researcher, the introvert, or the loudest voice in the room? Be able to communicate your strengths and how you improve on your weaknesses.Prove thyself. Now, knowing how you fit the culture and work on a team, be prepared to narrate examples of your alignment. For example, if acting with a sense of urgency is a company value, talk about how you helped your team exceed a deadline with a quick turnaround. Is respect a core value? Describe how you recognized coworkers achievements in the past or resolved conflicts. If your past experience was largely independent work, use other teams as examples ( volunteering, charity events, even your weekly boot camp).Be mindful of your interactions. In team interviews, its not just what you say but what you do that determines if youre a good fit. Whether you cut someone off or dont give enough to the conversation may factor into the final decision.Be ready for anything. To prove youre a team player, you may be asked to join impromptu brainstorming or some teams interview over lunch if youre there in person. Loosely structured, team interviews plant opportunities to catch you off guard so teams can see the real you.Say thanks to everyone. Dont forget to extend your gratitude to the entire group. Try to get contact information and remember something from the conversation you had with each individual.In addition, dont forget that team interviews are prime opportunities to assess the companys culture to make sure a jobs right for you. Dont hesitate to ask what clients really think about the products and services or what the team most likes ab out working there.Learn more about the value of teamwork and how to sell your strengths as a teammate in PGis free, new ebook, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.Readers, have you ever participated in team interviews? Share your tips with us belowAshley Speagle lives in Atlanta and works as a communications specialist forPGi, a leading global provider of collaboration software and services for over 20 years. PGi is constantly innovating, developing new technologies to make virtual meetings easier and more productive than ever before. Learn more at PGis blog, The Future of Business Collaboration.