How to Showcase Collaboration Skills on Resumes

What are collaboration skills?

Collaboration skills refer to any competency that helps people work together, solve conflicts, and communicate. While they’re crucial in every industry and job role, they’re particularly useful in team-based workplaces, including software development, project management, and marketing fields.

Various resume skills fall under this category – as long as it helps multiple people complete their jobs, it’s a collaboration skill. Here are a few examples:

• Mediation
• Conflict resolution
• Brainstorming and ideating
• Empathy and emotional intelligence
• Patience
• Communication and active listening

Many competencies subtly relate to collaboration. For example, clarifying expectations helps teammates complete their work more efficiently, and time management ensures you finish dependant responsibilities so your colleague can take over on time.

Why collaboration skills are important for your resume

Collaboration skills are in demand and are a high priority for hiring managers. Employers are always looking for talented people who work well with others to help improve their workflow and make their jobs easier.

Smooth collaboration ensures operational efficiency and high performance, leading to more successful outcomes and higher revenue. In fact, higher team engagement can lead to 23% higher profitability. (1) This makes your collaboration skills essential to monetary performance.

Companies need teamwork to stay competitive and create new, innovative services and products. Diverse perspectives, communication, and a willingness to work together build an atmosphere that can properly nurture and channel creativity.

Examples of collaboration skills resume phrases

Now, let’s learn how to describe collaboration skills on resumes. While you can list any of the above-mentioned skills in your Skills section, it’s best to describe your collaboration efforts in detail in your resume summary or Work Experience section.

Don’t worry if you lack extensive job experience – professionals at any stage of their career can showcase these skills, even if they must use their Education or a Personal Projects section. Here are a few realistic examples of displaying collaboration skills for different career levels:

It’s simple to identify your collaboration skills. Create a list of your top responsibilities, team projects, competencies, and awards – then carefully review it and make note of times you’ve helped others and complemented their abilities. No matter your industry or seniority, you’ll find something that showcases your team skills.

Industry-specific resume collaboration skills

Collaboration skills show up in unique ways, depending on your industry and field, and it pays to know how so you can properly showcase your competencies and relevance to the open role.

Let’s take a look at collaboration in different industries so you can build a targeted resume.

Don’t see your industry here? Browse our resume samples for realistic examples of collaboration and teamwork from many different fields.

Healthcare

Medical professionals need varied collaboration skills, depending on whether they work with doctors, nurses, patients, or receptionists. For example, a receptionist must understand a nurse’s schedule to effectively organize care, and a nurse must complement a surgeon’s work style to align with them properly and produce successful results.

Technology

Tech teams usually work cross-functionally – for example, back-end, front-end, and full-stack developers will work together to complete a project. It’s usually also a fast-paced Agile or Scrum environment, so professionals must coordinate their movements fluidly to maintain efficiency and deliver products on time.

Education

Professors and teachers need diverse collaboration abilities, working with colleagues, parents, and even students. Educational professionals must work together to develop new curriculums and coordinate campus events, while they need separate skills to help students with projects and provide expert tutelage.

Marketing

Marketing teams collaborate cross-functionally within themselves and coordinate with other departments, such as sales. A marketing lead must work with a content team, graphic designers, SEO specialists, and data analysts. Typically, this work is also performed under restrictive deadlines.

Project management

Projects are complex and contain many different moving parts and opportunities for collaboration. Project managers and account managers must communicate stakeholder needs to their teams, translating high-level overviews to technical terms – and vice versa once the team needs to relay new information to stakeholders.

Because projects require so much collaboration, it may be a good idea to create a separate Projects section in your resume to detail collaborative initiatives and achievements. Be sure to use a flexible resume template so you can add and remove sections as needed.

“Employers are always looking for talented people who work well with others to help improve their workflow and make their jobs easier.”

Common mistakes to avoid when listing collaboration skills

It’s simple to highlight collaboration skills, but it’s easy to accidentally slip into these common pitfalls. Review these mistakes, learn how to avoid them, and create a polished resume.

Here are the most common challenges when listing collaboration skills on job applications:

• Overusing certain terms: Terminology like “team-player” is vague and it’s easy to overuse, but it doesn’t tell the hiring manager much. Focus on describing situations and projects to really emphasize your skills.
• Lack of concrete examples: Discussing skills and events is encouraged, but make sure you back up your claims with tangible proof, like measurable metrics and past projects you can discuss in depth during the interview.
• Including irrelevant achievements: When showcasing your collaboration skills, include achievements that accurately display your ability to work with others. If an example just barely involves another person, it isn’t quite relevant enough.
• Taking credit for group efforts: Don’t be afraid to show humility and give your colleagues their dues. Mentioning how much other people helped you is a great way to subtly display your own collaboration and relationship abilities.

Additional tips for strengthening collaboration skills

 We recommend you commit to continuous improvement for all of your professional capabilities, and there are plenty of ways to strengthen teamwork skills. Here are a few methods to explore:

• Take online courses: There are thousands of free and affordable online courses to enhance collaboration skills. These not only boost your team competency, but they also typically award you with a certificate you can list on your resume.
• Volunteer for team-centric tasks: Inquire about team projects and volunteer for more collaborative opportunities in your work or schooling. This also expands your experience and introduces you to new, valuable connections.
• Seek advice from colleagues: Ask your colleagues and peers how they collaborate and learn new ways to communicate, complement each other’s skills, and resolve conflict.
• Stay current on your industry: Subscribe to relevant newsletters and look for knowledgeable social media channels and podcasts to learn how people in your industry collaborate.
• Learn new ways to use software: Tools like Slack, Asana, and Trello are great ways to collaborate and have hundreds of deep features you’ve never used. Explore them and try to find new ways to enhance your work.

Show you’re a strong teammate with a collaborative resume

Highlighting your team competencies shows that you not only have the right qualifications but also have the ability to blend into a team, get along with others, and produce better results faster. Consider your past projects and keep your industry in mind – showcase your skills in a relevant way and truly communicate your value.

Take these tips and tricks over to CVwizard’s resume maker where you can effortlessly list your top collaborative projects, tasks, and certifications. Create custom sections for a personal touch and make endless edits, smoothly updating you resume for each job description.

References:

(1) Gallup, 2023: How to Build Better Teams in the Workplace