Prompt: TOEFL independent essay We all work or in jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important.

At work, we meet people from different backgrounds. In order to work in a productive atmosphere, co- workers must have some specific characteristics. Personally, I am inclined to work with collaborative and reliable people. Ċ To begin with, collaboration is an important characteristic in a co-worker. It allows him to work within a team. A collaborative co-worker is ready to assist his colleagues even if this means that he has to work for extra hours. For example, a couple of years ago, while we were preparing for an important project, one of my co-workers had a family death which prevented him to come to work. So I decided with my colleagues to devise his work and do it on his behalf. It was a great initiative that helped the company and my co-worker as well. Ċ Additionally, it is important to work with reliable people. In every job, there are secrets that must not be known by others. Therefore, it is important to work with co-workers who can be trusted and can count on them. For instance, one of my co-workers had told a work secret to a competing company. His mistake cost our company a valuable loss. Ċ To sum up, there are many characteristics that a co-worker must have. As far as I am concerned, a co-worker must be collaborative and reliable. These two merits create a healthy environment at the workplace.