Waking up and immediately checking online sites to find out if there are any job vacancies is something most college students are used to doing.

Now, imagine that the roles are reversed. You are an employer looking for the best candidates.

With increasing workforce diversity, organizations are recruiting people from all over the world.

Employers want people who are different, people who have a unique way of dealing with problems and most importantly, people who have different working styles.

Having different ways to solve the same problem is looked at as a strength, not a weakness.

However, people’s differences can cause conflict in the workplace.

It is because of this that the most obvious and highly demanded qualification for an employee is to be a team player. Yes, a team player.

Look around your classroom and observe the people.

Globalization has done an amazing job in bringing people from different backgrounds and cultures onto a single campus.

During your time as an undergrad, the classes you take will often have the same familiar faces in them.

Those fellow students may become your friends.

They may not. However, one thing is certain…you will have to work with them on a group project.

We all have the same initial reactions when it comes to group projects.

Some may dread the day they get paired with their group, knowing they will be doing most of the work.

Others get excited because they know group projects mean an easy “A”.

When everyone puts in different amounts of work, conflict is bound to arise.

We would rather cast blame on others than self-reflect to see if there was anything we could have done to help more.

Our pride often hinders us from being team players.

Of course, no one would want to do the majority of any group project, but who wants a bad grade?

Maybe you are an introvert and aren’t good at public speaking.

Your partner notices and offers to speak more on your behalf.

To pay them back for their help, you write the outline for the project.

All along, your partner was bad at writing and didn’t know how to balance the workload.

Now you both are better off, and the work is done.

A compromise took place, and the group didn’t fall apart in the process.

The best groups are ones that choose positions, rather than having them assigned.

The best groups are those that meet often and work together to reach their goal, which is a good grade.

This is the turning point where your group becomes a team and the group project has changed into a team project.

You’ve reached the utmost level of integration.

When everyone shares the responsibility and can overcome obstacles, the outcome is successful.

You have developed the capability to work in a diverse group and have learned to adjust as needed.

This level of integration is what I seek when I personally work in group projects.

Group projects are an opportunity to learn how to deal with different types of people having different levels of dedication to work.

Not always will you become very close to group members, but group projects slowly teach teamwork.

They help to understand how to deal with people who have different personalities than you.

Group projects are an opportunity to learn and enhance managerial skills and shouldn’t be defined as a means of earning grades.

Working in diversified pools of people doesn’t just help to gain better ideas, but it can promote good qualities like leadership skills and team spirit.

Being able to work as part of a group is almost a mandatory requirement to beat the growing competition in the millennial workforce.

The employer will look at grades and extracurriculars when searching for a potential employee.

It’s true. They will look to see how good a person is at time management.

However, the biggest factor in determining who gets the job, in my opinion, is the person’s ability to work in a group.

So, the next time your professor tells the class there is going to be a group project coming up, don’t immediately get upset or annoyed.

Use the opportunity to work on your leadership skills or speaking voice.

Try to keep in contact with the members of your group and encourage each other when stressed.

Group projects aren’t going anywhere. We may as well accept it.