In February, ITPro ranked the humble Software Engineer as the Number One most in-demand tech job not just of the here and now, but of the future too. And that means competition for the best jobs on the market is exceptionally high. So, how do you set yourself apart from this growing crowd of talented Developers?
When you think of technical roles such as software engineering, your mind automatically jumps to skills and qualifications within the realm of coding, development, DevOps, or Cloud security etc. While those skills are essential to the role of a Developer, there are a number of other attributes that are just as crucial.
With the right soft skills, Software Engineers are better equipped to use their hard skills to the full extent.
Get creative
Critical thinking and coming up with a creative solution to a software related problem is probably the main reason the company hired you. We know that Software Engineers are working hard every day to find solutions to complex problems, and that work is based around technology that is constantly evolving.
As Developers, you’re used to solving problems with your learned experience and hard skills, but you can train yourself to look for answers from different, less obvious angles with creativity.
Creativity can be learned and with practice, it can open your mind to a plethora of different ways to approach the same problem – making your job much easier!
Be patient
Developers are faced with frustrating situations and tasks every day. When you’re trying to understand another Developer’s code and you just can’t wrap your head around how they wrote it, you need to be able to keep calm and dig through to understand or find the error. Or when you’re spending hours debugging code or trying to explain a project or technical term to a non-tech colleague, patience and persistence will be essential.
Learn to teach
If you are new to the world of software engineering, you may believe you have nothing to teach. The truth is that you most likely do.
Even if you’re not an expert on the topic yet, you may have more years spent working on it and have valuable insights to share with those around you.
Software engineering is a team sport, even if you’re working alone you have to communicate with customers, stakeholders, designers, and more. You should be able to pour into the pool of shared knowledge within your team, but also take away knowledge and insights from others.
Be confident in learning from your team and teaching them.
Be a people person
At some point in your career, your skills will level out to match those of your peers and colleagues. Depending solely on your technical abilities will make you fall short at some point. What can you do to set yourself apart?
Even in the most technical fields, people like to work with good people – someone they can trust and be inspired by but enjoyable to be around. Work on your people skills and management style to get the best out of your team and peers. Get involved in forums, communities, and groups to get your name out there. There’s so much value in being around like-minded Developers who are either a few steps ahead or behind in their career.
It is also crucial that you understand how to work in a team and around people because you can’t escape it and can drastically improve your productivity and overall enjoyment at work.
Partner with a professional
Often, the difference between a good Developer and a great Developer relies heavily on the soft skills established above. You might already have some amazing soft skills but aren’t quite sure how best to showcase them and that’s what we’re here to help you do.
As software engineering recruitment specialists, we know exactly what employers want in candidates, and can identify what sets you apart in the field. We’ll help you to navigate the job search and shout about the right things to potential employers.
develop is at the heart of the Software Engineering industry and specialises in placing talented candidates in the right roles across the UK, Germany, and Miami. For more information, get in touch.