Soft skills play a crucial role in the success of tech professionals. While technical expertise remains important, employers increasingly value interpersonal abilities that foster collaboration and effective communication.

 

Hays has done research among employers to find out what are the key sought after skills that help them to build the teams set for success. So, let’s now delve into the essential soft skills for tech professionals in the recent months and how you can demonstrate your strength in these areas when considering a new step in your career.

 

 

Effective communication is vital for building strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. It involves not only conveying messages clearly but also understanding others’ needs and responding to feedback. Employers seek individuals who can establish professional relationships, especially when working in teams. The need for good communication skills is further enhanced by the emergence of hybrid teams and frequent remote working.

 

How to show you´re strong in communication: talk about your collaboration within a large or remote teams when you worked together on a product or project. What was your role in the team? How have you contributed? How many stakeholders have you worked with? Were any external?

 

In any role in technology sector - whether you’re a data analyst, developer, security architect, or project manager, the ability to find solutions to various problems is critical and always come handy. While experience is valuable, employers also appreciate individuals who can offer innovative problem-solving approaches.

 

How to show you´re strong in problem solving: get ready with a specific case where you had to come up with a solution to successfully resolve a particular situation. Explain how you’ve been creative in finding such solutions, how have you implemented it and what the result was.

 

Given the dynamic nature of digital strategies, tech professionals must adapt to ever-changing goals, problems, and responsibilities. A track record of cross-training and meeting deadlines demonstrates flexibility and puts jobseekers in a favourable position.

 

How to show you´re adaptable and flexible: Dynamics is typical for the contemporary world. People, teams, technologies, processes and projects come and go. Think of one of these events that you have faced recently and describe how you acted and what specific actions you took in response to adapt to the new situation.

 

This is very closely connected to the previous topic. Adopting a change is very much dependent on leadership and change management, but the team’s receptiveness to change matters equally. Are you considering a senior position? Think on how you can influence your team to embrace change. On the other hand, junior team members should respond positively and do their best to adapt well to new processes and ways of working.

 

How to show you´re strong in change adoption: think of an important change that has recently happened in your career. Describe the change, how exactly it affected your role, what actions you´ve taken and the result of what happened when you adopted this change.

 

No doubt that continuous learning is crucial for sustained success in all technology roles. If you have less experience or just starting your career, demonstrating a willingness to learn and onboard new technical or soft skills is essential and something your employer wants to see. But, exactly the same goes for highly skilled experts as the technical knowledge can become obsolete without ongoing learning.

 

How to show you have the right learning mindset: What training programs or courses have you recently attended? How do you keep your knowledge up to date? List the new skills you have learned and how you have put them into practice.

 

 

Remember that while hard skills are essential, these soft skills are equally crucial for success in tech roles. Tailor your examples to demonstrate how you’ve applied these skills in your past experiences. If you haven’t emphasized them before, now is the time to start showcasing them in your current role!