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Top 5 Non-Technical Skills Any Great Developer Needs in Order to Advance
Software development has become one of the most impactful fields. Pretty much any product or service we use is being backed by a team of software developers behind it. While there are plenty of jobs out there, that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t fierce. A budding software developer still has to be at the top of their game and stand out from the crowd in order to get their dream job.
There are five important skills that all successful developers have in common. If you’re confident you have them too, you’re well on your way.
A client focused approach
Customer expectations are higher than ever before, and customers are scrutinizing businesses more intensely than ever. They’re comparing their experiences with multiple brands to the easy, fast, and personalized ones they’re having with the best of the best. And it’s these customer-focused businesses that get to reap the benefits of renewed loyalty and competitive advantage. No wonder why many companies nowadays, including technology ones, are looking to hire tech professionals with a client focused approach mindset.
Agile
Technology organizations seem to practice the agile methodology for software development, or a version of it. Or at least they believe they do. Whether you are new to agile application development or you learned software development decades ago using the waterfall software development methodology, today your work is at least influenced by the agile methodology. If you want to learn more, here are several free courses to get better at the agile development methodology:
Communication skills
Communication skills come into play when writing documentation for frameworks and libraries, or when sending emails or slack messages to coworkers. They’re an important factor in how two or more people convey complex ideas and concepts to each other, which is core to collaborating as a software developer. And, more recently, communication skills have become an important part of software developer interviews, where most companies will check for a level of aptitude in a candidate’s communication skills.
Problem-solving skills
Problem solving is really a self-directed process. It requires curiosity, flexibility, careful observation and analysis, and a conceptual framework that grows slowly over time. Of those things, the only one that can be taught is the conceptual framework, so that is what books and classes provide. The rest is up to you.
Developers who pay attention to details tend to write a higher-quality code. Computers only do what you tell them to do. If a code does not compile or a product has a bug, it’s not the computer’s fault. Exercising the ability to think through corner cases and writing codes that will handle various use cases allow for a much easier development process. Also, detail-oriented developers can catch mistakes in their own code as well as in others’ one.