Hard skills are obviously paramount within the bespoke software development industry. The quality of code your produce and other technical skills you pick up along the way will be the driving force of your career. This being said, it’s important not to lose focus of the soft skills that will help support you too.
A good set of soft skills will greatly benefit you as a software developer; they will allow clients and employers to help decide if you are the right fit for them, creating the perfect match for a project.
Here are a couple of soft skills we think every custom software developer should have under their belt.
1. Good Communication
Communication is key, as a bespoke software developer. Whether you work within a team, such as our team of developers here at Clever Software Group, or choose to go freelance, you will always need to be able to convey ideas and intentions effectively.
Whilst your potential teammates and project managers will have a knowledgeable idea of what you are talking about, most of the stakeholders and clients you work with won’t be from a technical background. At Clever Software Group, we explain things as simply as possible, to ensure everyone involved with the production of a software solution has a clear understanding of what is taking place.
Questions should be encouraged from all parties, so all involved are on the same page. Cutting the technical jargon and using language that anyone from any industry background can understand, will make you much more approachable as a bespoke software developer. Using analogies to simplify the explanation of processes, that can be understood by someone from a non-software background, will also massively work in your favour.
2. A Head for Team Work
Team work literally makes the dream work.
Whether you work within a team of bespoke software developers, relay ideas back to a UI or UX designer, or have to update a group of stakeholders on how a project is coming along, you will more than likely have to interact with one team or another on a daily basis.
You are not always going to be expected to agree with every idea suggested by a colleague, but working within a team can help lighten a workload, allow quick solutions to be explored and add a good social element to your day.
Software development can be a very loan profession, so checking in with your team on a regular basis will not only help promote and support their wellbeing, but also greatly benefit yours.
Custom software developers are usually working on individual tasks that make up a bigger project. Allowing the entire team to be in the loop via good communication and cohesively working alongside each other, will allow a project to progress as smoothly as possible.
3. Mentoring
We all began our career path as a junior – whether that be a junior software developer, designer or account manager. We have all got to start somewhere, but using our knowledge to help support others will do a world of good.
We each pick up our own individual hints, skills, tips and cheats as we progress through our professions. Sharing our skillset with others will allow them to do the same.
A prime example would be using your time to aid a junior software developer, that needs help with a solution. This small amount of time will allow a knowledge gap to be closed and permit a shared process to become an automatic provision, if required to be used in the future. You will be sharing a piece of advice that will more than likely be passed down to the next generation of developers. This is something that will probably resonate closely with many senior developers today, as they would’ve had essential information shared with them early on, to help them progress in their careers.
4. Problem Solving
Bespoke software development is basically finding and fitting different pieces of a puzzle together.
Whether it’s planning how a software solution is going to be crafted or solving a bug within a system, problem solving will happen on a regular basis.
Being able to keep a cool head and approach a difficult task calmly and with ease, will allow problems to become much easier to tackle. Remember, you can always ask for help as well. You don’t have to solve it by yourself. A team member may have a piece of knowledge that could quickly solve an issue. There are also so many helpful forums online, dedicated to helping software developers share and help come up with solutions.
5. Time Management
Time management is an extremely vital soft skill to consider as a bespoke software developer.
Clients will expect deadlines to be completed on or before the forecast completion date. Running late on a project delivery will not work well in your favour and will carry with it a multitude of consequences.
Excellent time management will allow you to keep on top of tasks, highlight what work needs to take priority and where majority of your energy needs to be allocated. Creating a detailed schedule for your day will help you easily visualize tasks and follow a regular routine, allowing chunks of your day to become much more manageable. You will also be able to create a healthy work-life balance, incorporating appropriate breaktimes and moving attention away from multitasking.
Not allowing an individual task to have your full attention will, more often than not, cause it to become more time consuming, leading to errors. Manage your time wisely and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
6. Creativity & Exploration
There is a stigma held around bespoke software development. It is assumed that it can be a very hard and demanding profession. As much as this can sometimes ring true, it also allows you a lot of space to explore many creative outlets, often paving the way for the best solutions to be produced.
The bespoke software development industry is constantly evolving, as new technologies are released each and every day. This allows the opportunity for a lot of exploration into new fields, the learning of better skills frequently and keeping yourself ahead of the curve in a very affluent industry.
Crafting a custom software solution requires a lot of creativity, especially if a problem needs to be solved along the way. Don’t be scared to try new methodologies and improve your skill set. You never know what you might discover.
If you're looking for an experienced team to design and develop your next piece of software, get in touch!
Phone: 01425 837290
Email: hello@cleversoftwaregroup.com
Website: Clever Software Group
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