“Do you work better on your own or as part of a team?” this is a question that will frequently come up in an interview.
Do you pick a side? or, do you stay neutral?
Team player or independent worker?
Employers ask this question because they want to get a sense of your ability to do both. If you work well as part of a team the interviewer wants to hear how you thrive whilst working in a group environment. If you work better on your own they want to hear about how independent and responsible you can be to work remotely. So how do you best work? The first step here is to think about a time about when you did your best work and was this independently or as part of a team? Doing this will give you an idea of your work style. It will also give an idea on what kind of situation you like to work in.
If you are unsure you don’t have to worry because a lot of people are great working on either side. If this is the case you can prepare an answer that covers both and chose examples where you worked well in both situations and take points from both sides.
Best Example Answer:
“I really enjoy the communicational side of working within a team. It helps that I work more effectively when trying to generate new ideas when I can work with people that can bounce ideas around and make suggestions that I may have never come up with if I worked alone. I also like the independence of completing any of my own tasks for projects that have been assigned to me. This gives me the free reign to produce my own work that I can take credit for and be proud of upon completion. However, if I feel like I need help I would ask my colleagues for their opinions. I feel like a second opinion will help me see things that I may have missed out on.”
