In their search for a dream job, graduates must demonstrate their ability to work effectively with others. Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images When joining the world of work, graduates move from an environment focused on individual working -- attending lectures, library research, and essay writing -- into one where the ability to work well in a team is essential. It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that in the search for their dream job, high-achieving graduates often focus on demonstrating that they are independent thinkers who can manage their own time. The ability to work effectively with others, however, is one of the key competencies that graduate recruiters prioritise, so it's important to complement leadership potential with examples of how you thrive in a team. Good team working skills can be developed through extra-curricular activities and work experience: the tricky thing is knowing how to present these capabilities on your CV and at interview, and show off your hobbies in the best possible light. Developing skills Teams need leaders, but they also need hard workers who can be trusted to get the essential but unglamorous jobs done. As a graduate it's important to show you can tackle this role as you learn the ropes of your new job. Working as an intern or getting a summer job as an assistant will help to demonstrate you aren't afraid of getting your hands dirty. It's also important to show varied experience of different team roles. Show how you have grown within a team, for example, by