Soft Skills in the IT Industry
Just a few years ago, people applying for jobs in the IT industry had to focus primarily on having the highest possible level of technical skills. However, over the past few years, employers' requirements have changed significantly. According to a report published by McKinsey Global Institute titled "Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained", with the development of technology and the automation of a large portion of routine tasks, employees must hone other skills, including so-called soft skills. Paweł Pełtak, IT Recruitment Manager at People, explains why they are so important and which ones recruiters pay the most attention to.
Soft Skills in the IT Industry – Why Are They So Important?
Why Are Soft Skills Gaining in Importance?
Soft skills are a set of psychophysical traits and social abilities that determine how a person behaves, communicates, and organizes. They influence every area of our lives, the building and maintaining of interpersonal relationships, and how we are perceived by other people – our partners, acquaintances, or co-workers. So why are soft skills proving crucial for the IT industry only now? With the use of innovative solutions, the role of employees and the nature of their work are changing. It is no longer just work with hardware or code, for which knowledge, experience, and technical skills are primarily needed. Today, it is also work with people from various areas of business. Some people still hold the belief that programmers are hard to communicate with. However, now that the Internet is used in almost every area of our lives, the work of IT departments has a direct impact on all aspects of business. This means that constant communication with other departments in the company has become necessary. It is therefore crucial that this cooperation is both effective and simply pleasant. Moreover, even for the best developers or testers in the industry, technical skills alone may not be enough when, for example, the time comes to change jobs. A low level of soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, or personal culture, undoubtedly hinders a positive passage through the recruitment process.
Soft Skills – When Are They Crucial?
In Which Positions Are They Essential?
From the perspective of the IT industry, soft skills are crucial in those positions where maintaining business relationships is one of the main tasks. Therefore, mainly Project and Sales Managers, Analysts, and Scrum Masters should focus on developing or improving them.
It is hard for me to imagine a Business Analyst who is by nature a closed, taciturn person, lacking communication skills and having difficulty working with people. The tasks of such a person include talking with the client, gathering requirement lists, and providing immediate answers to questions about what is feasible and where difficulties may arise. Then the Analyst presents the project concept and set of expectations received from the client to the developers. If, in addition to the necessary knowledge, he lacks communication skills, assertiveness, and willingness to cooperate, the entire process will be tiring for each party – explains Paweł Pełtak, IT Recruitment Manager at People.
However, in reality, all representatives of the industry – including those who work daily in small, closed teams – should keep in mind that soft skills are the foundation these days, without which it is extremely difficult to spread your wings in the IT industry.
Want to Develop? Focus on These Areas!
7 Key Soft Skills
It is worth remembering that soft skills are useful at every stage of a professional career. Improving them is therefore an exceptionally worthwhile investment, and recruiters will attach increasing importance to these aspects. Research shows that managers who include the education and development of soft skills in managing employees noticed a 30-percent increase in productivity in their teams. Here is a list of 7 competencies that are key from the IT perspective:
Creativity
Most often, a programmer's work is not repetitive, and in addition to standard coding, the vision and idea of what a given application should look like matter. Even in situations where most elements have been imposed, the final effect depends on the programmer. Creativity is also useful when searching for a solution to a problem or fixing a bug. Besides, it is worth remembering that IT is not only programming, and creativity is particularly important in other positions in the industry as well. An example can be the position of UX Designer, whose task is to design from scratch what a given website or application will look like.
Logical Thinking
This is an ability that counts as a soft skill, despite its direct connection to the exact sciences. Without advanced logical thinking skills, work in IT can prove very difficult. A programmer's tasks are extremely complex, and their execution depends on many factors. In IT, for example, code is closely interconnected. The fact that a certain functionality works is made up of many dependencies, structures, loops, references to previously written code, file connections, databases, and many others. Therefore, the ability to think logically and awareness of these dependencies is necessary.
Personal Culture
Although theoretically it forms the basis of functioning in society, not everyone follows its rules. Especially during a job change, we are not sure who we will end up working with, so the ability to behave in such a way that everyone in the company can feel comfortable is extremely valuable. It is worth recalling that personal culture consists of good upbringing, care for hygiene and appearance, respect for one's own dignity and that of co-workers, as well as knowledge of basic savoir-vivre rules and adherence to them. This is the minimum that will make it easier for us to establish and maintain positive relationships, regardless of experience, position, or industry.
Organizational Skills
It is every employee's duty to properly organize work and manage time appropriately, both their own and that of team members, especially in the case of people in managerial positions. The situation is no different in the IT industry. Keeping documentation, the computer, or the workstation in order are basics without which it is hard to imagine functioning in an office. Fortunately, there are also tools, including free ones, that greatly facilitate these tasks. An employee's willingness to use them will certainly be met with enthusiasm by any employer.
Communication and Teamwork
The belief that the programming profession is performed by loners is one of the most common myths about working in IT. However, the IT industry is largely based on teamwork, and a well-coordinated, well-functioning team is often the foundation of success. That is why communication skills and openness to working with others are so important. A good atmosphere, smooth exchange of information, and the absence of misunderstandings foster the execution of even the most complicated and demanding projects.
Willingness to Learn and Self-Development
IT is undoubtedly the fastest-growing industry in the world. Every day a new tool, a new application, or even a new technology is created. Therefore, anyone who ties their professional future to the digital world should be characterized by an irresistible desire to learn, follow new developments, and constantly develop their skills.
Kindness and a Positive Attitude Toward People
As with communication skills, a kind and positive attitude toward others greatly facilitates teamwork. This was shown, among others, by a scientific experiment conducted in Spain. It turned out that an act of selfless kindness translates not only into happiness or a sense of satisfaction in the workplace, but also into the effectiveness of employees and the entire team.
Recruitment and Soft Skills
Increasingly, right next to the list of required skills or experience, recruiters list the soft skills that are key for a given position. However, if we are aware of our shortcomings in some areas, it is worth choosing honesty – both toward ourselves and toward a potential employer.
Even if during a job interview one 'embellishes' their actual skills, one can be sure that sooner or later the truth will come out. Therefore, it is better to honestly admit one's shortcomings and explain how one is working to eliminate them and… actually work on them. In this way, we will certainly gain additional points in the eyes of the employer, earn their trust, and build the foundations for developing a business relationship. – says Paweł Pełtak, IT Recruitment Manager at People.
Summary
The article shows that in the IT industry, technical skills alone are no longer enough – employers increasingly pay attention to soft skills such as communication, creativity, or personal culture. They are particularly important in positions requiring client contact, e.g., business analysts or Scrum Masters.
The authors list 7 key areas of development, and the research cited in the text indicates that managers investing in these skills noticed a 30-percent increase in team productivity. Expert Paweł Pełtak also advises that during recruitment, one should honestly admit shortcomings and show how we are working to fill them.
