The Secret to Your IT Career Success
As IT Professionals we are always looking for the next technical skill to add to our skill stack.
Courses, classes, certifications, and degrees all focus on technical skills. And these skills are crucial for us to know. If you are going to be successful in IT, you have to have a solid base of technical skills. After all, we are in technology. So, it makes sense we need a solid base of technical skills.
But there is another set of skills that are equally, if not more, important than technical skills.
A set of skills that will set you apart from your peers, and help you realize your full potential.
Secret skills that are rarely talked about but will ultimately determine your long-term success in IT.
I am talking about soft skills.
Your technical skills will get your foot in the door. Your soft skills will kick the door down. They will make it painfully obvious to anyone who is paying attention that you are someone who is ready to level up in your career.
They will help you be more focused. They will make you someone others want to work with. They will help you see your career more as a mission than a profession. They are the gears that drive your success engine.
Your soft skills are the gateway drug to success.
So, the next time you are ready to learn a new tech skill. Stop, and ask yourself:
“Is my time better spent learning this new technology, or improving upon myself?”
Honest answers only.
Ok, so we have established that soft skills are valuable. But what are soft skills and why should you care about them?
Google provides a simple but effective definition:
“Personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.”
Unlike technical skills (or hard skills) that represent specific knowledge, soft skills define personality and behavior. Technical skills are “what” you know. Soft skills represent “how” you will behave. Sometimes called “social skills” or “interpersonal skills”, they are a collection of behaviors that define who you are. They demonstrate how you are likely to conduct yourself in any given situation.
Common Soft Skills include:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Communication Skills
- Time Management
- Problem Solving
- Decisiveness
- Teamwork
- Flexibility
Ok, so now we understand what soft skills are. The question is: why should we care about them?
- They are evergreen. Unlike tech skills that can become obsolete, soft skills do not have an expiration date.
- They will increase your earning potential and help you get promotions.
- They will make people seek you out and want to work with you.
- They will make your career more meaningful and enjoyable.
- They will help you have more impact and influence.
- They will maximize the value of your technical skills.
As you look over this list, the power of soft skills becomes obvious. They drive your earning potential. They drive your leadership potential. They drive your job satisfaction.
Soft skills will help you realize your full potential in your IT career…and life.
Soft Skills put the “Pro” in IT Professional.
