As a software developer being strong in hard skills (technical) is definitely a huge plus. However, unless you are in the top few percents in the hard skills department it is really tough to stand out from other developers. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost though as there is something that can definitely help you stand out from the crowd. That something is soft skills and if you can master it you’ll be recognized as a valuable asset to any organization.
In this post, I am going to talk about 7 soft skills that are crucial for a software developer to have if they want to boost their career.
Effective Communication
As a developer being able to communicate with other engineers and or business is vital. You can have great ideas, but if you can’t help others understand it and get their buy-in then it’s only a great idea in your head. You don’t need to be a great public speaker or even talk a lot, you just need to know how to convey information in a way that others will understand.
So, how can you effectively communicate with others? First, you got to know your audience. Speak their language to ensure that they understand you. This can range from speaking very technical to using analogies. It all depends on who you are speaking with.
Let’s consider an example where you as a developer needs to speak with another developer on your team. You can probably throw in some technical jargon and also omit some context because they can probably understand what you’re talking about.
Now, let’s consider an example where you as a developer needs to speak with another developer outside of your team. In this case, you will need to provide them with some context. You’ll probably want to cut out the technical jargon specific to your project.
Now, let’s take a look at an example where you as a developer needs to speak with a non-technical person. In this situation, you will need to provide context and omit technical jargons. You will probably need to reword anything that is technical to use simple language. Maybe support technical concepts by providing relatable examples/analogies.
Identify and Understand What Is Important
What is important can change depending on the business direction and or your project’s direction. As a developer, it’s important to understand why you’re building the software in the first place. By understanding the reason the software is being built, you’re able to identify what is important to build.
For example from a project’s direction standpoint, what is seen as a priority to research and development (R&D) is not the same as production. What is important during the proof of concept (POC) stage is not going to be as important in the production stage for a software application. During the POC stage getting a feature to just work is important. However, in production having that feature be stable and reliable is more important.
From a business standpoint, solving challenging problems that don’t address the business need is wasted effort. From an engineering perspective, it is rewarding, but that’s not how business sees it.
Willingness to Adjust
The willingness to adjust to changes is an ability that will benefit you throughout your career as a software developer. Software and hardware evolve at a rapid pace and technologies you are familiar with today might become obsolete in the near future. To keep up, you will need to be willing to learn new technologies.
Aside from changing technologies, being willing to adjust to changes also benefits you in faster pace environment. Some projects can change direction rapidly and if you are adaptable then you will be able to easily roll with it.
Willingness to Grow
The willingness to grow is an ability that helps you stand out from other developers. Willingness to grow means you’re naturally keeping up with your skills and technologies. You’re aware of what is happening in your industry. When there are talks about moving to something new, you’re the one that knows of its existence already.
Another part to a willingness to grow is being open to criticism. No one is perfect, so there is bound to be some room for improvement. It can be hard to hear, but if you approach criticism with an open mind then you can probably improve yourself based on those criticisms (as long as they are within reason).
Empathy
Empathy is simply being able to put yourself in the place of another person. For a developer, empathy enables you to put yourself in the place of our colleagues, clients, and customers. Empathy helps you understand your customers and their needs.
Approachability
For some developers, one of the most enjoyable things to do is to put on their favorite playlist, put on a pair of headphones, and then code away. Unfortunately, from an approachability stand-point, it is like you’re signaling “Don’t bother me”. There might be some truth to that… but it is probably not your intention.
Depending on where you are in your career as a developer, being approachable will have a different level of importance. For example, if you are a senior or lead then it is important that others perceive you as being approachable.
Patience
Having patience is a crucial skill as a developer. Sometimes you will feel like you’re barely making any progress trying to tackle a bug. Other times it is getting something to work after you have tried several different attempts. Failures and obstacles will easily find its way into development and if you are able to overcome them then you’ll come out stronger each time.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
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