Maybe you’ve seen a poster, uttered the phrase as a coach, or heard the song by Taking Back Sunday, “There’s no “I” in TEAM.”  But, is it true?  Is your individuality really lost when you become a part of a team?  Though there might not be an “I” in the word team, there is the word “ME”.  And you are vital to your team.  As a teammate you bring your unique gifts and talents to the table to combine with others in order to achieve a goal.  Each person has a place on the team.  And most importantly, how you work with your teammates directly affects the success of your team.  We’ve rounded up 12 interview questions that will get you thinking about teamwork.  As the song says, “. . . take the time to talk about it . . .” because you might just be the right fit for the team at your next interview.

1. What qualities do you bring to a team?

2. What qualities do you find most important in a teammate?

3. You and a co-worker came up with a great idea, the co-worker overstates their contribution when describing it to others. How would you react?

4. With whom do you have the most difficult time communicating?  Why?

5. When you need to address a problem, how do you relay the information to the other person?

6. When interacting with clients and co-workers, is it better to build friendly relationships or is it preferable to maintain strict professionalism? Why do you say that?

7. What things cause the most friction on your team?

8. What did you like about your team at your last/current employer? What did you dislike about the team? 

9. What makes your current team work well/poorly together?

10. Walk me through a specific example of a time when someone on your team was not pulling his/her own weight – how did your team resolve this?

11. In working with new people, how do you go about getting an understanding of them?

12. Have you ever had difficulty getting along with a co-worker or supervisor? How did you handle it?