Résumé words · Traits and self-description
Another word for “Team player”
What it is trying to claim: That you work well with other people.
Why it underperforms
It is the most predictable phrase on a résumé, which means it is skimmed past. It also has an unfortunate secondary reading: it is the standard thing to write when you have no individual accomplishment to point at, so it can imply the opposite of what you intend. Collaboration is real and valuable, and it deserves evidence rather than a label.
What to write instead
This one is not fixed by a better adjective. Each of these replaces the claim with evidence.
| Instead | Use it when |
|---|---|
| (name the collaboration) | Who you worked with, across what boundary, to what end. |
| (show you were chosen) | Being asked onto a team is evidence others wanted to work with you. |
| (show you unblocked someone) | A concrete instance of making a colleague faster. |
| (show a shared result) | A team number with your specific contribution named. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Team player with excellent interpersonal skills.
After
Ran the Friday handover between our team and the overnight shift for two years, which took repeat escalations from about eight a month to one.
A named, repeated, measured piece of cooperation demonstrates the trait the phrase can only assert.
When “Team player” is the right word
Never as a phrase. In cultures and industries where team contribution genuinely outweighs individual credit, describe the team outcome and your part in it.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Team player" on a résumé?
- Replace the phrase with evidence rather than another adjective. A named, repeated, measured piece of cooperation demonstrates the trait the phrase can only assert.
- Is "Team player" bad on a résumé?
- It is the most predictable phrase on a résumé, which means it is skimmed past. It also has an unfortunate secondary reading: it is the standard thing to write when you have no individual accomplishment to point at, so it can imply the opposite of what you intend. Collaboration is real and valuable, and it deserves evidence rather than a label.
- When is it fine to use "Team player"?
- Never as a phrase. In cultures and industries where team contribution genuinely outweighs individual credit, describe the team outcome and your part in it.
Fix these next
- Hard workerThat you will put in effort.
- Excellent communicatorThat you write and speak well.
- CollaboratedThat you worked jointly with others.
- Self-motivatedThat you work without supervision.
- Detail-orientedThat you are careful and catch mistakes.
All 72 words are on the résumé words index. For the verbs grouped by what they claim, read résumé power verbs.
After the résumé
Fixing the words is the easy half. The applying is the slow half.
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