Describe a time you worked in a team

這張題卡的準備方式

這張題卡（cue card）檢驗的是敘述結構，以及你在團體中描述自己具體貢獻的能力，這是常見的弱點：很多考生描述「we」這個團體做了什麼，卻始終沒有說清楚自己個人做了什麼。考官想聽到你清楚說明自己的角色，所以把「what your role was」當作最需要仔細規劃的要點，因為它是最容易說得含糊的部分。

選一個你記得具體細節的團隊經驗：學校或大學的小組作業、工作上的專案、籌辦家庭活動，或是運動團隊。經驗不必很完美。有些摩擦，或後期出了問題的團隊經驗，往往比一切順利的經驗更能讓回答有趣，也更容易帶出誠實的反思。

用大約20秒交代任務，30秒說明有哪些人參與，接著刻意把真正的時間花在你的具體角色上，也就是你實際做了什麼，而不只是團體達成了什麼。結尾認真反思你的感受，這會帶出更複雜、帶有評價的語言。

讓回答更出色的詞彙

1分鐘準備計畫

在1分鐘的準備時間裡，可以寫下：

• task: university project, marketing plan, four people
• who: classmates, mixed skills, one late joiner
• role: research and writing the final report
• felt: stressful near deadline, proud at the end
• closing: learned to divide tasks earlier next time

範例回答

以下是這張題卡完整回答的一種寫法，用來示範結構和程度，不是要你照背。具體的任務和角色應該反映你自己的經驗。

I’d like to talk about a group project during my final year at university, where four of us had to put together a full marketing plan for a fictional product as part of an assessed module. We were assigned to the group somewhat randomly, so I didn’t know two of the other three particularly well beforehand, which added a slightly nervous element at the start. My specific role ended up being research and writing the final report, since I’m generally more comfortable with writing than with the design work, while another member focused on the visual presentation and a third handled most of the actual client-facing pitch we had to record.

Honestly, the experience was a bit stressful in the final week, mainly because we hadn’t divided the workload clearly enough at the very beginning, so a few tasks ended up overlapping while others were left undone until quite late. One teammate really stepped up during that final push, pulling a couple of late nights to help pull everything together, and I think that saved the project more than any of us would like to admit. By the end, though, I felt genuinely proud of what we’d produced, and slightly surprised at how well four fairly different working styles eventually came together. If I’m honest, the biggest thing I took from it wasn’t really about marketing at all — it was learning to agree on who’s doing what much earlier next time, rather than assuming it would sort itself out.

這張題卡的常見錯誤

• 只描述「團隊」做了什麼，卻始終沒有說清楚自己的具體角色。
• 把團隊說成毫無摩擦、不切實際的完美，聽起來像是排練過的。
• 只用角色稱呼隊友，例如「a colleague」、「a classmate」，沒有其他任何細節。
• 把「how you felt」匆匆帶過成一個形容詞，而不是真正的反思。