Ragged Riches

Back when I was in college, there was one type of assignment I hated more than anything else: team projects. To be successful in a team project meant that you had to get along with people and actually get the work done.

I was not liked by my classmates. As a result of my ditzy behavior and unpopular status, I often was locked out of team projects. In other words, they wouldn’t allow me to work on them and they would treat me like a zoo animal for trying.

It was awful.

And yet, it taught me something important. Some industries absolutely require collaborations—to the point of it being a “sink or swim” type of deal. If you don’t play well with others, you might want to avoid this list of the most collaboration-heavy industries.

#1: Human Resources

Let’s start off with the elephant in the room: HR. If you are in charge of having to manage people, cool hot tempers, and get people to behave well at the office, you’re going to need to be a “people person.”

Human resources isn’t just about hiring and firing people. It’s not even about keeping the company safe from sexual harassment suits. It’s about getting people to work together without becoming rabid, homicidal maniacs.

If you can’t work in a team with a bunch of crazily-different people, don’t try human resources.

#2: Software And Tech Development

Oof, I actually understand why my college professors insisted on group projects. Even when you’re “vibe coding” these days, you’re never just working solo.

You have to deal with clients (for requirements trawling), IT pros (for data structures), marketers (to teach them the product features), as well as project managers who ensure that it’s actually being done on time.

Working with others is so important, even major coding sites like Gitlab have a “Best Practices” section devoted to it. So far for that antisocial aspect, eh?

#3: Film And Media

If you were ever part of your school’s theater club, you already know how much effort, collaboration, and teamwork goes into media productions. Even the smallest professional productions require a core team of at least three people: a lone actor, a lighting expert, and maybe a stage assist.

The Nashville Film Institute notes that a typical movie costs between $100 to $150 million to create. Much of that is for the salaries and fees paid to actors, SFX crews, video editors, gaffers, and more.

As a person who’s a friend of many film veterans, I can tell you that missing a single day can be a devastating blow to a film’s budget. A single missed day or a person dropping the ball can cost tens of thousands of dollars. That’s why flaking on a single shoot can get you blackballed.

#4: Fashion

I often consider fashion to be the sister industry of movie/media, and not just because of the glamour vibes. It’s also a very similar, highly competitive, ultra-collaborative type of industry.

People don’t realize how much team effort is involved in the fashion industry. Before a fashion line hits the racks, it has to go through:

• Designers. They have to sketch it.
• Seamstresses. Can be the designer too.
• Fit models. To make sure it actually will fit on a person.
• Merchandisers. Merchandisers and buyers have to pick it up for stores. Sometimes, this is skipped.
• Marketers and advertisers. If the line is sold online, you’re going to have to deal with a lot of advertisers, web designers, and marketing teams to develop hype.
• Photographers. Yep, you need shots of the dress.

All things said, it takes collaboration between at least six or seven teams.

#5: Medicine

Phew! This is the big granddaddy of collaborative industries. You literally cannot function in the medical field without actually giving people a lot of legwork to work with.

This isn’t just about working with doctors and nurses. You have to have recordkeepers, scribes, and insurance workers to deal with as well. Medicine is never a “one pony” show, if you get my drift.

If you can’t collaborate, don’t go into medicine. Period.

#6: Sports

Sports are a lot like medicine in the sense that you have to work with a million different people in order to have a successful business. Unlike medicine, most sports players will primarily stick to a team of people on the field.

However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a coach, a trainer, or some other folks that can make them be more productive. Perhaps that’s why most sports players tend to be “people persons” to an extreme fault.

#7: Construction + Remodeling

You know, most people tend to think of blue collar jobs as “loner” jobs, but this isn’t true. Every single construction project (save for a handful) require teams to complete…and it’s not just teams of contractors.

You have to have an architect, a product supplier, maybe a couple of permit expediters…It’s a lot. And if you don’t get along well with others, it’s not going to bode well for you.