Importance of soft skills in technical roles

To get and secure a job, more often than not a portfolio of technical skills is necessary.  

However, beyond a candidate’s technical skills and his flawless academic background, is being endowed with soft skills all that important in a technical role?

 

 

Understanding the importance

The way someone interacts and communicates with others can make or break the efficiency of work on the job. For example, you may be applying for an IT role, but if you lack the necessary soft skills to pass the interview or even progress within your career, chances are that coveted job will be given to someone who appears more impressive during interview. 

Recognise some of the soft skills needed to stand out from the regular technology crowd such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. These are essential in building relations with customers, co-workers and supervisors at work and progressing within your career. 

Honing your communication skills 

One of the more important soft skills would be a good grasp of spoken and written communications. One of the reasons is because IT professionals rarely work individually. They are constantly interacting with other employees, clients, and vendors. As such, they require a strong set of verbal and written communication skills to successfully communicate their ideas to others so that misunderstanding is minimised or even eliminated. This is particularly important as the constant entrance of technology outsourcing firms into Vietnam requires IT professionals of today to multitask across different projects. 

People management and interpersonal interactions 

Good interpersonal skills will allow you to deal and interact with people in a positive manner. While honing your technical skills during your studies and career, you will also learn how to interact well with different people you meet along the way and throughout your entire professional career. You get to win your clients over with a positive working attitude and this will give them reasons to return for more business transactions. Hence, to stand out from the other IT players, acquiring this set of interpersonal skills is as important, if not more important than technical skills if you want to have future prospects in your career.

How soft skills work in the big picture

Being equipped with soft skills means that you are more able to effectively use your technical abilities and knowledge and make an impact in your quality of work. They complement your hard skills and are needed for success in the workplace. Academic qualifications and technical abilities may secure you an interview, but having soft skills will set you apart from other candidates with similar educational background. 

Find out what you’re worth using the Robert Walters Salary Survey.

Or, find your next IT opportunity via our job search page.