If there was one area most survey respondents agree on it's the
importance or teamwork, with new graduates giving varying degrees of
credit to their college coursework for preparing them with teamwork
skills.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I am glad I had those team projects.
They helped we to understand how to communicate with my 'different'
co-workers and understand their views when solving a problem."
-- Cherrie, 1999 grad
"School always said teamwork is always used in the 'real world'. I
find it to be true. If it takes four hours for you to do a project
... with two or three people working on it you can get it done in an
hour."
-- Anonymous
"The teamwork skills gained from group projects is probably the No. 1
advantage I had over my coworkers. Although I was missing the some of
the technical knowledge other people had, I could communicate and
work with other people to drive through to solutions. I feel like
this skill helped me get promoted early. I saw the same results with
other Stetson University business-school graduates where I work."
-- 1999 general-business grad
"College was the ultimate test of teamwork, and nine out of 10 jobs
require you to work with other people. If you aren't willing to
compromise how you work to fit the needs of others, you're probably
not going to make it very far."
-- 2002 broadcast news grad
"Lots of teamwork and general people skills are needed. College
generally prepared me for this, but I wasn't aware of the politics of
the biz world until I got here!"
-- Anonymous
"Teamwork skills are expected and demanded in my job. Being in sales
requires me to communicate/work with pretty much every department in
my company."
-- Ali von Staudach, senior account executive, CNET Networks, 1999
communication studies grad
"Teamwork is very important in the workplace, especially with regard
to how you communicate with the people you work with. My college
education was OK for preparing me to participate in a team; however,
I would have liked to have more group projects with an emphasis on
presentations."
-- Anonymous
"People that can't work in teams don't last long in my line of work."
-- Brad Peska, CISSP, manager, First Consulting Group, 1999 computer
information systems grad
"Teamwork skills and working in a group dynamic while at Stetson University
really prepared me for my job."
-- David LaRocque, information analyst, EDS, 1998 human resources
management grad, Stetson University
"Definitely my job wouldn't happen without teamwork. College was more
individual for my studies, and it took some adjusting for me to learn
how to adjust well in a team environment, because I have a very
dominant, individual personality."
-- 2002 political philosophy grad
"A lot of work is project-based, where you have anywhere from four to
10 different people staffed on a project. It is critical that you can
handle your amount of work as well as be able to interact with all
members of your team, including your boss."
-- 1998 marketing grad
"Teamwork skills are demanded on the job. I wish I had more
psychology classes. They might have helped me better understand the
people side of the business."
-- 1999 finance grad
"Teamwork is definitely required, and although my education partially
prepared me for it, previous jobs and work-related experiences had
more of an impact."
-- Anonymous
"Teamwork skills are a must at my job. The many group projects really
gave me a taste for how to deal with group dynamics."
-- Margaret Goodwin, business analyst, Hewitt Associates, 2000 management grad
"Teamwork skills are critical. My college education prepared me
somewhat through group projects."
-- 1999 grad
"There are few positions that don't require teamwork on some level. I
work with developers, producers, client operations, sales, and
executive leadership. Teamwork is expected. If you can't work well
with others you're never going to make it very far."
-- Bryan Stoehs, channel manager, Gartner News, Gartner, Inc., 1999
communication studies grad
"Each of my employers have stressed the importance of teamwork!"
-- Anonymous business-school grad
"Dealing with various personalities is something that can make or break you."
-- J.P. Politano, 2001 management grad
"Yes, we have a lot of teamwork. My college education required us to
work in teams, doing things together. That is not like anything we do
at work. No, I don't think the teamwork exercises helped a lot."
-- 2001 grad
"The real world is all about how you interact with other people. In
school, I learned to work with all kinds of personalities, and I have
already seen mirror images of many of these personalities."
-- Charles L. Sano, ticket sales associate, University of Miami
Hurricanes, 2001 sports administration grad
"Teamwork is essential for my job. You work with so many different
organizations and personalities that teamwork is the only way to get
things done the right way."
-- Anonymous
"There is undoubtedly someone you will work with that you will not
get along with; learning to deal with different personality types is
crucial in career development."
-- 1998 international business grad
"College did not prepare me at all to deal in teamwork situations.
Thank goodness my previous military service did."
-- 1999 history grad
"Teamwork is so important, but I think that comes with job
experience. The more part-time jobs you have while you are attending
college, the better you will be able to handle 'the real world.' Just
remember that teamwork is great, but learn to be conservative in the
amount of chatting you do with co-workers. Keep the volume down so as
not to disturb other co-workers and stay off the phone. Bosses will
notice this!"
-- Anonymous
"Teamwork is paramount between teachers and administration. My
coursework included more than adequate preparation in this area."
-- 2001 education grad
"My college education did well to prepare me for teamwork situations.
We worked often as a team on class projects, so I feel comfortable
going into the working world and being a team player."
-- Anonymous
"Having excellent interpersonal teamwork skills is a career
requirement. College prepares you, but the real experience comes when
actually working with people in the environments."
-- Anonymous
"Just like in college ... someone has to be the go-getter. You have
to take action sometimes and you have to see what the rest of the
group can do sometimes. College did help me get used to dealing with
all types."
-- 2001 general-business major
"Teamwork skills are definitely important in the work force and were
NOT taught at college."
-- Anonymous
"Teamwork is essential to any job. Yes, my liberal-arts education
prepared me for that."
-- 1998 English grad
"There is a lot of individual work in my job, but it is necessary to
get input from everyone else in the company. The ability to interact
effectively with others is a skill that is very necessary. I believe
I was well prepared for that."
-- 2002 marketing and Japanese grad
"When consulting with clients and helping them with
organizational-development interventions or projects, teamwork is
required. Teamwork is an integral part of the leadership training I
received at Regent."
-- Mario Teixeira, director, SolutionFinders, 2002, MA grad in
organizational leadership from Regent University
"Teamwork skills are a must in any profession. Life prepared me for this."
-- teacher, 1999 education grad
"All of my previous positions required teamwork. It is as crucial as
your professional skills. You've got to understand that even people
of the same nationality and religion are very different. In teamwork
there is no place to say that something is absolutely white and other
is absolutely black. You shouldn't impose your strategic values to
others, especially when you manage even a small group of people. I
don't remember who told me this, but life is only 10 percent how you
make it, and 90 percent how you take it. So just bear in mind, that
no matter how smart you are, there'll always be someone who is wiser
than you actually are. And there is always something to learn, even
from those who are much younger than you."
-- 2001 grad
