Soft Skills for Software Developers

Abstract

Nowadays, an understanding of the importance of having behavioral competencies for IT specialists has been formed. Analysis of publications confirms the growing needs and interest of software developers in the development of not only technical skills, but also social (behavioral) competencies for effective and efficient performance of professional activities. During interviews with recruits, IT companies try to find out not only the level of hard skills, but also the presence of a set of soft skills. Unlike hard skills, soft skills are the common language of empathy, cooperation, and well-being of people in the workplace. They should be considered holistically because they can change in accordance with changes in a person's life. They form the stability and at the same time flexibility of the team, which ultimately affects the success of the company. Each specific company itself defines its soft skills model as a set of competencies necessary for successful work in it to achieve its strategic goals. Currently, there is no well-defined, established, generally accepted list of soft skills for software developers. In the work, an analysis of numerous publications from the IT company was carried out and a list of soft skills, most important for software developers, considering the specifics of communication skills of the relevant industry, was formed. Communication, teamwork, time management, admitting mistakes, empathy, emotional intelligence, patience, adaptability, creativity, leadership, problem solving and interpersonal skills are the main soft skills that a software developer needs to develop to successfully solve his professional tasks in a team, significantly improve their productivity and increase their overall job satisfaction. The article also examines key difficulties in the formation of relevant soft skills and ways to overcome them. Considering the importance and development of employees' social competencies contributes to their joint involvement in work, effective interaction and interest in achieving good results, high quality and productivity for the long-term sustainability of the company in a global professional environment.