Key Skills of Every Successful Software Engineer - 2021

Undoubtedly, the popularity of software engineering is rising sharply. Each day new job opportunities are created for Software Engineers as a result of advancements in technology. This article aims to summarise some of the key skills and characteristics of successful Software Engineers by covering the following questions and topics:

• What is Software Engineering?
• Technical Skills
  • Coding, Testing, & Debugging
  • Domain Specific Knowledge & Skills
  • Other Technical Skills
• Soft Skills
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Teamwork
  • Eager to Learn
  • Time Management & Multitasking
  • Creativity

What is Software Engineering?

As we discussed in one of our previous articles (Computer Science vs Software Engineering), Software Engineering is a study field which excels in learning engineering principles to design, develop, test, maintain and evaluate a given computer software. Generally, a Software Engineer focuses on solving a given technical problem by analysing user requirements and combining engineering principles with technical skills and knowledge such as programming languages, application security, databases and many more. If you would like to learn more about Software Engineering and other related engineering principles, we suggest you to read the book by Ian Sommerville.

Technical Skills

As Software Engineering is a very technical field, there are a number of different technical skills associated with it. These technical skills can range from general skills to more domain specific skills depending on the type of work you do and your position at work. However, more or less they are similar to each other and successful Software Engineers tend to have these or similar skills. In the following paragraphs, we are going to examine these skills in a more detailed manner and provide explanations for each of them.

Coding, Testing & Debugging

As a Software Engineer, you are expected to code most of the time. You are required to analyse user requirements, understand the nature of the given problem and then, produce a solution in the form of a software program which can be a mobile application, a website, a desktop application or any other similar software program depending on the problem. In order to be able to produce a solution to the given problem, Software Engineers need to be proficient in coding. In fact, coding is such a broad term. It includes a range of different programming languages, platforms and other related technologies depending on the type of Software Development. For example, for a Web Developer, the term "coding" may encapsulate JavaScript, PHP, HTML for programming languages and MongoDB, PostgreSQL and AWS for other related technologies & platforms. However, this may not be the case for mobile or desktop application developers. Another daily task of almost every Software Engineer is testing. Almost in every company that produces some sort of software program, Software Engineers are required to test, debug and review lines of code written by other Software Engineers in order to meet the given quality standards. Therefore, you should be good at coding, testing and debugging which are considered as few of the basic but most important skills of every successful Software Engineer.

Domain Specific Knowledge & Skills

Software Engineers need to have domain specific skills which can be considered as complementary to coding, testing and debugging. These domain specific skills and knowledge can be considered as a technical specialty and may have some differences depending on the career path and interest of the Software Engineer. For example, if a Software Engineer is interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and wants to have a career in this particular study field, he/she is expected to have AI specific knowledge and skills (Machine Learning, Speech Recognition, Image Recognition & Analysis, AI platforms and many more). In other words, domain specific skills and knowledge can be considered as an extra information or ability that is being brought into the work environment which can improve the quality of the output and reduce amount of time needed to produce that product or solution. Other domain specific skills and knowledge may include Cloud Computing, Databases, Networking, Image Analysis, Data Science and many more.

Other Technical Skills

These are the technical skills which a Software Engineer is expected to use on a daily basis. Generally, Software Engineers are one of the greatest fans and users of version control systems such as Git, Github, GitLab, Bitbucket and so on. In short, version control system is a tool which is used to manage changes to computer programs, documents and other sources. Again, these technical skills can have some differences depending on the company, type of work, and workflow of the Software Engineering team.

Soft Skills

These are the skills which define your personality, characteristics and habits. Unlike technical skills, these are not taught (loosely speaking), but obtained throughout life as a result of gaining more experience in the related fields. Therefore, having these soft skills are far more important than technical skills as they are harder to obtain. For example, you can learn how to code by taking a course or even doing online research. However, this is not the case with being good at communication or teamwork. These kinds of skills are either learned after practicing them for long enough or they are part of your personality.

This is one of the reasons why some companies have started recruiting recent graduates based on their soft skills. These companies are aware that technical skills are easier to be taught. Therefore, they are looking for the soft skills which are compatible with their culture and work ethic. This is why they are conducting many rounds of interviews. However, this does not mean that the technical skills are not important or useless. In fact, soft skills are complementary to these technical skills. For example, in order to be a Software Engineer you need to be good at coding and problem solving. But, if you are not a good communicator or team player, you may find it difficult to understand the given problem and therefore, produce an undesired outcome or product.

In the following paragraphs, we are going to examine these skills in more detailed manner, state why they are important and explain how they are relevant to successful Software Engineers.

Communication

This is by far one of the most important soft skills for a Software Engineer. It complements with most of the technical skills a Software Engineer may have. On a daily basis, Software Engineers attend too many meetings. One of these meetings is "daily stand-ups". These meetings take around 15 minutes and Software Engineers share their thoughts, problems, findings and achievements with other members of the team. This is very important as it gives everyone in the team a chance to catch up with what others are doing and resolve problems which are blocking the overall progress. If for some reason this communication link between the team members breaks, it may result in irrevocable mistakes.

Software Engineers are problem solvers by default. They are expected to produce a solution to a given problem in the form of a software program. As a result, they constantly communicate with customers, stakeholders and team members in order to understand the nature of the given problem. A failure in communication may lead to an inefficient or even worse, incorrect solution.

These are only a few of the many cases where communication skills become very important. If we tried to state all of these cases, we would not be able to finish writing this article. Communication is one of the core and most important skill that a successful Software Engineer can bring into the workplace. It forms the basis of almost any action a Software Engineer has to undertake in the workplace.

Problem Solving

As it is mentioned many times before, problem solving is one of the daily tasks of every Software Engineer. Software Engineers use their own knowledge and expertise in order to be able to produce a solution to a given problem. However, this is not just a simple solution. Software Engineers bring their own knowledge and experience into the game to produce high quality, efficient and usable solution.

Teamwork

It is very rare to see a Software Engineer working alone, unless he/she is a freelancer or working on a small project. Usually Software Engineers work as a team, and being a good team player plays a crucial role in the success of Software Engineers. But how can a Software Engineer be a good team player? Let's examine this in more detail. Good team players are able to:

• help other members of the team with solving their problems.
• identify needs of the project and collaborate with other members of the team.
• listen and understand what others say as Software projects are usually carried out as a team.
• communicate their thoughts, problems and findings with ease.
• ask for help when you need it.

Eager to Learn

We live in a world where a new piece of technology is emerging almost every day. As a result, technology trends change quite often. These inventions and changes can have significant effects on the entire industry or small effects in a particular area. Industry wide changes may include changes in global trends such as Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing. On the other hand, small changes may include a new programming language being introduced to the technology industry and becoming popular among the Software Engineers. As a Software Engineer, you must be able to keep up with these new inventions. Successful Software Engineers are always hungry for new knowledge and open to learn new things. Gaining new knowledge can help Software Engineers to bring different perspectives into the work environment and therefore, produce better and efficient solutions.

Time Management & Multitasking

Most of the Software Engineering projects are known for having tight deadlines. Usually, customers, stakeholders and other related parties want to see the results of a particular project immediately. However, there are a number of different planning and management tasks that must be done in the background to achieve these results. We are not even mentioning about other projects being on the queue. As a result, Software Engineers are required to have good time management and multitasking skills in order to be able to finish the project within a given time period.

Creativity

Being creative can add the extra touch needed to make a stunning product. This little extra touch can convert a product or solution from good enough to perfect. Therefore, in addition to analytical thinkers, it is always important to have creative minded Software Engineers in the team to achieve extraordinary and stunning results.

Conclusion

To summarise, there are some skills that almost every successful Software Engineer possesses. These skills can be categorised as technical and soft skills. Software Engineers need to possess both of them in order to be successful. Because these skills complement each other. Having all the technical skills will not make Software Engineers successful in the job unless they have the necessary soft skills. Similarly, being a good coder will not help if your communication skills aren't at the right level, just as being a good communicator will not put you in a good place if you are not good at coding. Therefore, it is very important to be able to find that balance between technical and soft skills. These skills will help Software Engineers to go that extra mile required to build stunning and desirable results which will improve company's reputation. Therefore, employers should also invest in their employees and help them with acquiring all the required skills and creating that balance between technical and soft skills.

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