Looking to recruit someone who “works well in a team” or is a “team player” is common in job adverts - so much so that it’s almost easy to gloss over it as an area that we assess during interviews with potential candidates.
Yet the reality is being able to work well in a team is a crucial skill and one that not everyone is adept at, often with damaging consequences.
As such, how can you truly know if someone is a team player during the interview process? It’s not foolproof, but here are some ways to try to spot someone who will fit in and work well with others.
Teaching candidates: identifying a team player
Before the interview
You should set out clearly in your job advert that you want someone who can work in a team and collaborate, and that this is integral to the role.
To prove themselves on this point, you could ask applicants to share an example of where they have worked within a team in a past job and how collaboration was key to the success of an initiative.
You should then make sure you review the letters of application with a focus on this section. Does the letter of application actually address any teamwork elements or respond appropriately to teamwork-related areas in the advert? Or does it fail to mention anyone else?
Make sure reference templates for references that are required as part of the application process entail comments and ratings on teamwork capabilities, too.
Preparing for the interview
When you invite someone in to interview, you should consider setting tasks that give you an insight into how the candidate relates to others.
This could mean asking the candidate to communicate with another member of the team to finalise requirements for demonstration lessons or presentations. For example, science teacher candidates may be referred to a technician or you might ask an English teacher to liaise with the school librarian.
More on teacher job applications:
For leadership roles that require an even wider level of communication, ask the candidates to source appropriate information from different areas within the school.
For example, you could ask them to source non-confidential information relating to student numbers in each year group/class from the head of admin, and then these have to be shared with another member of staff.
You can then follow up with feedback from a range of stakeholders who met the candidate to get a sense of how they felt the person engaged with them and whether they felt they had the right skills for successful teamwork, such as being polite, communicating clearly and making appropriate requests.
Interview questions
During the interview, you should also ask for an example of an effective teamwork experience. Use this to identify whether the candidate’s experience and understanding of effective teamwork match the school vision.
You could also try posing a scenario where teamwork has not gone well and ask the candidate to analyse the contributory factors or suggest methods to get the team back on track.
For example, a scenario could be: one hour before an event, you are informed that the presentation the team needs for it was not backed up and has been lost or the person who was presenting is now sick. Or perhaps data due for submission to an exam board has not been collected across a department.
Ask the candidate how they would deal with the incident and then try to uncover what went wrong.
A good answer should show that a candidate understands the basics of teamwork and that they can act appropriately as a team player when teamwork is compromised.
You could also request that candidates bring a portfolio of their best work or achievements in previous schools and ask them to talk you through it. Do the examples and answers ever mention anyone else, or is it suggested that they achieved everything on their own?
Meetings
Another good litmus test for someone’s sense of working in a team is how they perceive meetings (something all schools rely on).
So you could set a question that addresses teamwork within meetings. For example, ask the candidate to describe the qualities of good and bad meetings.
Pay particular attention here if the candidate would be leading and arranging meetings in your school. Is the candidate aware of the varying after-school demands of others?
Do they know how to maximise meeting time (eg, limiting meeting duration and sticking to an agenda)? Do they know how to behave or manage behaviour in a teamwork context (eg, ensure that a variety of viewpoints are heard and that people can disagree respectfully)?
It’s a small area but one with a big impact, so listen carefully to their answers.
Looking for egos
Finally, you should consider posing a scenario where the candidate’s point of view or proposed action is dismissed, and ask how they would respond to this.
Are they willing to acknowledge the criticism and try alternative pathways or do they appear to show frustration that they would be in this situation at all?
Here you are looking for the qualities of humility, gathering feedback from others and effective delegation.
There’s never a guarantee that you will hire a true team player, but by ensuring that you promote this skill set and look to assess candidates’ abilities in this area, you have the best chance of recruiting the best fit for your school - making everything a lot smoother.
Ayisat Fashola has held school leadership positions in the UK, UAE and Qatar. She is currently head of science at an independent school in Sydney, Australia
This article was originally published on 9 January 2023
