There's more to being a developer than just knowing how to code. Here I'll break down some of the most important skills that will help you upskill your developer game and interpersonal skills, because knowing how to explain your projects is just as important as how to do them.

Soft skills

Soft skills or interpersonal skills are non-technical skills that relate directly to the way you work, solve problems and interact with others. They can be learned and improved by doing a bit of introspective work.

Let's quickly go over the most common ones:

Accountability:

We are all meant to make mistakes; they're pretty common in any field. Accepting and taking ownership of both your work and mistakes will ensure you use them as an opportunity to grow and improve your skills, not to make the same mistake again, and if you do, you already know how to fix it.

Adaptability:

Is the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions.

Adaptability will help you adapt to the fast-changing industry that tech is. You will cultivate this curiosity about tech and be willing to accept that change is the normal state of things. You'll be able to not only keep yourself dedicated when things get hard, but your team and colleagues too.

Why is this important? Try wording it the way a recruiter would: Are you willing to learn new things needed on the job? Do you see challenges as a way to grow? Would you be able to handle working with different teams?

Communication skills

Being able to communicate in a clear and accurate way is an essential skill you need for healthy relationships. For a communication to be effective, both parties should be on the same page about the topic being discussed. Sounds easier said than done, but this not only includes verbal and written communication; it might also include nonverbal cues.

Effective communication skills include asking the right questions, active listening, empathizing with others, being concise and clear with what you're communicating, giving and receiving feedback. But most importantly, be authentic and kind.

Communication is about building real connections with people. Treat others the same way you'd like to be treated.

Conflict resolution

Conflict is not strange for most of us; disagreements happen, the way you handle it and reach a peaceful resolution can help you create healthier relationships from a place of empathy.

Conflict can happen between service providers, clients, customers, groups even in your friendships. It's important to remember that conflicts are not a matter of who wins the argument; it's about solving the problem at hand.

Effective communication skills and emotional intelligence are a must since the goal is to find a mutual ground where both parties understand and agree on what the best solution is.

You should be able to explain your interests, concerns and what you want the result of said conflict to be, while also suggesting possible solutions and a middle ground between what they want the result to be and what you want it to be.

Critical thinking and problem solving skills

Critical thinking will make you analyze and solve problems from a more systematic point of view. One of the many benefits this has on problem-solving is that you'll be thinking about what you're aiming for and making a decision based on what will get you the desired outcome making a linear and logical connection between several ideas.

This is heavily linked to problem solving; many times you'll be facing unexpected situations and complex projects that will force you to find an effective solution, through analysis, research, communicating possible solutions, decision making and structuring the resulting solution.

Emotional intelligence

It involves analyzing various aspects of your emotions and how to channel them in a healthy way while also understanding the emotions of others from a place of empathy. The how and why you're feeling that way.

Why is this important? This will make you less reactive to external stimuli and make you be aware of what and how you talk to others; you're in control of your emotions and how it might affect others.

This might look like: being able to accept criticism, taking responsibility for your actions, saying no when it's needed; having good listening skills; being able to solve problems in ways that others would agree with, and forgiving yourself when you make mistakes.

Openness to Feedback

Feedback shouldn't be feared; it can be delivered in a both effective and healthy way. It should be a two-way street of communication where guidance is provided and you're open about your goals, struggles and experiences.

The more feedback you get -positive and constructive- will help you grow and reach those goals you're after. The main point of being open to feedback is that you show you're willing and looking forward to learning and improving while being a good team player.

Time management

This is how you plan and control how much time you spend on specific activities and tasks. Effective time management skills will allow you to be more efficient and productive while also lowering your stress.

A great way to start doing this is to set appropriate goals, organize and prioritize wisely, set a time limit for each task, take breaks between tasks, and have a plan ahead.

You can understand this is such an important skill because it'll lower your wasted time, improve the quality of your work, and will help you organize your workflow better.

The biggest takeaway is to differentiate what is important and what can wait, choosing to focus on the important ones first and move down hierarchy.

Networking

Networking is such an overlooked skill that might not give you immediate results, but it's completely worth it in the long run and it doesn't have to feel like a chore.

A lot of people see networking as just making connections with people, which is fair, but it goes beyond that. Networking is building meaningful relationships within your community.

Best tip I can give you is to find people you want to be like and communicate with them. Tech twitter is amazing and you'll be surprised with the amount of connections that can come from it.

But don't be fooled, it takes work to build connections that will help you gather information about the industry, tips, and advice on where you want to take your career.

Hard skills

There are so many resources out there to help you boost your knowledge and experience working with certain technologies, so here's a list of some good and free resources I've used in the past. If you have any others, please add them in the comments <3

General resources

Improve your accessibility with the W3C Web Accessibility guidelines
Go over some Modern JavaScript Syntax with the Modern JavaScript Cheatsheet repo
Become a JavaScript master with this 30 days of JavaScript free challenge by WesBos

Think like a programmer

Practice your coding skills and earn ranks with codewars
Expand your knowledge and prepare for technical interviews using leetcode
Prepare for your interview with this tech interview handbook

Front End

Learn about Web Dev for beginners with this Web Dev for Beginners repo
Practice your skills with real projects using front-end mentor
Improve your HTML and CSS skills with real life designs with codewell
Get ready for your interview with this front-end interview handbook

This is all folks! The best part about these skills is that they all work together and make you grow not only as a developer but as an individual.

Thank you so much for reading, my friend! :] I really hope you liked it and learned something new today, if you have anything to add don't hesitate to leave a comment.

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How to improve your developer skills

Table of contents

Soft skills

Networking

Hard skills