The Soft Skills Every Software Developer Needs to Succeed

"&lt;p&gt;The software developer&amp;#39;s life manual. This is the title of a book I recently came across that caught my attention. In it, the author discusses the various skills (or &amp;quot;soft skills&amp;quot;) that are required to be a successful software developer. According to the author, soft skills are just as important, if not more important, than technical skills.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;No matter how talented you may be technically, if you don&amp;#39;t have the interpersonal skills, you won&amp;#39;t make it to the next level in your career. In this blog, I wanted to share with you a couple of points that I found useful in this book not only for software developers, but for any profession.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;While technical proficiency is critical for success in this field, it&amp;#39;s only one piece of the puzzle. To round out their skill set and thrive in their careers; developers need to focus on cultivating what are known as soft skills.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are soft skills?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;They can be broadly defined as the various personal attributes that make someone successful both professionally and personally.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Lead your career:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;When it comes to your software development career, think of it like you would any other business. Have a business mindset and focus on what service you&amp;#39;re providing and how to market that service.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Think about ways you can improve your offering and specialize the service you&amp;#39;re providing to serve the needs of a particular type of client or industry.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&amp;nbsp;Focus on being a specialist who provides a very specialized set of services to a very particular type of client.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Define goals for your career, and first have a big goal such as becoming a manager or entrepreneur.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p&gt;First, identify what you want your career to look like. This might be becoming a manager or an entrepreneur. After that, set smaller goals to get you there&amp;mdash;things like improving your communication skills, reading books on how to be successful, and networking with people who work at the company you want to work for.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Next, figure out what employment option is best for you:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;Employee,&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Independent&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Consultant,&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Entrepreneur.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Finally, specialize in one area of software engineering to make yourself more valuable and promotable. When it comes time for a promotion.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The biggest problems people have when working remotely are time management and self-motivation. You need to set a regular schedule and be able to push yourself to start working. It can also be lonely, so make sure you go out after work or join a local software developer group.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;You also need to have self-confidence to be successful when working remotely. If you don&amp;#39;t believe in yourself, others won&amp;#39;t believe in you either. Make sure you hire a professional to write your resume and ask for feedback.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Marketing yourself:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;There isn&amp;rsquo;t one specific way to market yourself as a developer. You should use a variety of channels, including:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;Writing blog posts&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Creating podcasts&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Creating videos&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Writing articles&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Writing books&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Speaking at code camps and conferences&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Building your own brand.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;But most importantly,you need to add value to others. Be helpful and provide useful information. That&amp;rsquo;s how you&amp;rsquo;ll be successful as a developer.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Learning:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question - everyone learns differently and what works for some may not work for others, you can have a look at this article where we tried to find&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://devbrains.tn/blog/the-perfect-number-of-daily-hours-you-should-spend-learning-code&quot;&gt;The Perfect Number of Daily Hours You Should Spend Learning&lt;/a&gt;. However, there generally is a 10-step process that most people go through when learning something new:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Get the big picture&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Determine what exactly you want to learn&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Define concise success criteria&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Find as many resources as possible for learning&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Find the correct path for learning&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Figure out which resources are better for learning&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Learn enough to get started (e.g. Hello World program)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Experiment on your own&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Learn in depth to do something useful&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Share &amp;amp; teach what you learned&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p&gt;You can also look for mentors, a mentor introduces you to new ideas, habits, and people. This experience shows you the importance of having a mentor and being a mentor throughout your life. Being a mentor can help you find gaps in your knowledge and fill them.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. The productivity recipe: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;Focusing is very important for productivity:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;&amp;nbsp;Make sure to eliminate any possible distractions before starting and plan out your entire week in small tasks that take no more than two hours.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Select your tasks from the list at the beginning of each day, and use a kanban board to track your progress, which consists of states like &amp;ldquo;Not started,&amp;rdquo; &amp;ldquo;In progress,&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;Done.&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Ignore emails or chat programs during the day. Use the pomodoro technique and set a goal for the number of Pomodoro&amp;rsquo;s you can complete each day. Doing so will help you prioritize your tasks and minimize distractions.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p&gt;The second benefit of setting a goal is that you can relax when you hit your target. You don&amp;rsquo;t need to feel guilty anymore about not accomplishing the task. Instead, you can take satisfaction in knowing that you did what you set out to do.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;There are many tasks that can be batch processed to save time. This includes writing emails, making phone calls, fixing bugs, and attending meetings. However, there are some activities that tend to be massive time wasters. These include:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;Watching TV&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Social media&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Browsing news sites&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Taking unnecessary meetings&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Cooking&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Playing videogames (especially online games)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Taking coffee breaks&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;There&amp;#39;s no need to feel overwhelmed by big problems. Just break them down into smaller tasks, more manageable tasks to make them less daunting and easier to start. And don&amp;#39;t forget to ask yourself: &amp;quot;What is the worst that could happen?&amp;quot; This will help take some of the fear out of starting new projects. Habits will help you succeed, so establish a routine and stick to it.&lt;/p&gt;"