This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Julianna Roen
When evaluating how “strong” someone is as an engineer, there is often an emphasis on their technical abilities. The exact definition of “technical” is very vague, but this usually translates to having extensive knowledge in programming languages, frameworks, data structures, and other concepts in software development. While having a deep understanding of these topics is powerful, stack ranking engineers on their ability to invert a binary tree overshadows qualities of a different nature that also contribute to creating well-developed, long-lasting products. Having the aptitude to learn, build, and maintain code requires skills beyond being a human search engine. Below is a list of characteristics of impactful engineers that are often overlooked.
Organization
Code easily gets messy. You may not know every library, but if you’re the type of person who carefully categorizes phone apps or likes anything of a Marie Kondo nature, these skills can easily translate to writing high quality code. Naming variables and structuring projects is one of the hardest things in software development. Due to the wildly varying opinions of contributors and the DIY nature of tech, it doesn’t take much for complex apps to become spaghetti monsters. Having a grasp on how to sort out abstract concepts and translate them into programs that are easily extendible and understandable is a rare talent.
Investigation
Maybe you haven’t dived too deep into solving gnarly bugs before, but if you have the ability to find someone on Facebook knowing nothing but their middle name and the first letter of the city they’re from, I have no doubt you’d be able to get to the root of many technical issues. Things go wrong all the time in software development. Getting to the bottom of how code you inherited works that someone else wrote over 2 years ago and has since gone MIA is golden. Solutions to issues are not always straightforward, but not impossible to uncover. If you identify as a highly skilled social media stalker, no doubt you’d be great at unpacking any elusive code mystery.
Communication
Any business requires interaction. Even if you’re working by yourself, you need an audience to sell your stuff to. Whether you’re doing a solo-venture or work for a high growth startup, there’s no compromises on emphasizing the importance of effectively sharing knowledge. This principle grows in value the larger the platform or organization. If you’re working on a big team, silos of knowledge are harmful because they become single points of failure. Time is also money. If you can spare a 10 person team a 1 hour Zoom meeting by instead sending a well-crafted email or Loom that efficiently gets your point across, you’ll have freed up a collective 10 hours to do other things.
Being on top of sh*t
It’s an understatement to say the software industry moves quickly. Frameworks are released, adopted by the masses, and become old news within a year’s time. Package versions are bumped at a constant rhythm, making the shiny new @module/idk-1.4.5 obsolete a few months down the line. Even though we’ve had the internet for nearly 30 years, the field of software development is still in its infancy. None of us really know yet what the hell best practices should be. Having a discerning eye for changes in the landscape is necessary in order to stay relevant and adapt to higher levels of technological consciousness.
Grit
Tech is fast and furious, especially in Silicon Valley. Hustle culture promotes people to work hard and play hard. Depending where you land can have a varying impact on how much you experience this. But generally speaking, it takes a lot of self-advocating to advance your career in this field. I’m hoping collective efforts to make the industry more inclusive will prevent people from feeling like they need resolve of steel in order to “make it”. In the meantime, if you want to go far in tech (especially if you’re from an underrepresented group), being tenacious is essential.
Being a nice person
Simply being a pleasant person to work with is one of the most covert yet helpful qualities at any job (and in life). Most people aren’t complete assholes, but working with someone who’s even just a little more abrasive in nature can be pretty demotivating. I’m convinced that I was able to land most of my jobs because of how thoughtful and caring I came across during my interviews. It continues to be a positive source of feedback for me during performance reviews and has helped me build connections with many people across the industry. It’s not rocket surgery, just put some effort into being friendly ?
Programming — like any other skill — takes time and commitment to get good at. It’s a domain that suits people who think logically and like to move fast, but there are many other factors that come into play that truly make someone a standout engineer. So whether you’re someone who’s curious about entering the field or are unsure about sticking with it because you’re under the impression that “you’re not technical enough” BS, hopefully this list hypes you up on key qualities that maybe your colleagues don’t notice but I certainly do.
6 “Non-Technical” Qualities of Great Software Engineers was originally published in Level Up Coding on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Julianna Roen
Julianna Roen | Sciencx (2021-03-17T23:42:41+00:00) 6 “Non-Technical” Qualities of Great Software Engineers. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/03/17/6-non-technical-qualities-of-great-software-engineers/
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