Generally a person whose vocation is software development, is concerned about learning multiple programming languages and the use of tools that allow the software development process to have better quality and be much more agile, however, many leave aside the soft skills, which are of great importance for the growth of our work and personal life. Below is a list of the most important soft skills that a Software Developer should have.

Communication

A developer must be able to communicate efficiently with the people in his team; in addition, external teams are included, such as people who are part of the business (customer), in this specific case, communication is very essential, since the developer must be able to convey the right message with non-technical words so that the customer can understand in detail the situation exposed.

Many people, when they hear the word communication, directly relate it to oral communication, but it is also necessary to apply a very good communication through e-mail and instant messaging.

Currently a large number of organizations that are dedicated to the creation of technological solutions are implementing Telework, and the biggest risk to mitigate, is to maintain effective communication in the work team.

Troubleshooting

If we look into the past, we realize that every software created, initially was born from the need of a customer who wanted to solve a problem that manifested itself in their business, processes, etc.; whether it was everyday, complicated, analytical, global. And the job of a software developer is to find a solution.

A software developer must have the ability to use the right methodology for each project, must consider all possible solutions according to customer needs and implement them, always thinking about the end user.

Open to new technologies

A software developer must be curious, he must not be satisfied with learned knowledge; with a fast changing environment, he must be constantly updated with new technologies or updates to the libraries he uses daily, and assign a low priority to technologies that are becoming obsolete. Not only focusing on programming languages, you should also focus on tools that allow the software development cycle to be more scalable, maintainable, end-user friendly, etc.

Code lover

A person who enters the world of software development, encouraged by rumors that it is a career with great boom and job opportunities, without having the vocation, the passion, will not reach the climax of work. This career requires a lot of effort and sacrifice, you may spend a whole day analyzing a problem or sometimes you may be required to work late, due to software deployments in the production environment, you have to be a lover of code to enjoy this career and become an expert, or in other terms a Senior Advance

Self-study

Self-learning can greatly benefit a developer in the workplace. Self-study can provide the ability to identify problems and quickly find effective solutions on their own.

Nowadays it is very common to find people who are software developers and do not have a professional degree, this due to the ability of people to dedicate themselves fully to learn new technologies by themselves, according to the survey conducted by StackOverflow for the year 2019, 85.5% of visitors to this site were dedicated to study new technologies by themselves.

taken from: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2019

Time management

Projects are usually time constrained, being aware of time can help a developer meet deadlines and give accurate estimates of assigned tasks. We well know that a client desires timely delivery of commitments made at every stage of a project. A developer must continually learn to make estimates that may include slack time, in case impediments arise in the execution of the assigned task.

Responsibility

When we talk about software development, many responsibilities come to mind, such as, for example, software quality. Developers are not exempt from making mistakes, some may have more impact than others, however, a responsible developer must accept and assume the consequences of his actions.

When we talk about software development, many responsibilities come to mind, such as, for example, software quality. Developers are not exempt from making mistakes, some may have more impact than others, however, a responsible developer must accept and assume the consequences of his actions.

Mistakes are common, but know how to take them as an opportunity to improve and learn from them, and try not to repeat them again.

Collaboration

A developer oriented to collaborate with his team without expecting something in return, allows the team to be fully engaged and success oriented. Being collaborative is of great importance for both personal and work growth, because, just as you teach other people, it may be that from that teaching that is being practiced you can get feedback that can strengthen your skills.

Having all these soft skills does not make you a better software developer, or if you lack a skill, it does not make you a bad software developer. Becoming an expert in the area is not easy, it combines a lot of technical knowledge and soft skills, you just have to be willing to do things right and spend time to find the shortcomings, fix them and improve them.