Making it Big in Software: Get the Job. Work the Org. Become Great

Chapter 6. Essential Skills. Some Are Even Technical

“Masochism is a valuable job skill.”

—Chuck Palahniuk (1962–)

Two kinds of skills define employees: hard skills and soft skills. The hard skills are the technical skills you learn at school, such as requirements planning, software design, programming, debugging, software engineering, operating systems, and so on. Soft skills refer to everything else you need to know about working in an organization, such as teamwork, communication (written and oral), public speaking, organizational etiquette, negotiating, mentoring, recruiting, managing, and leading. Both sets of skills are always important, but early in your career, the hands-on technical skills are a little more dominant. As your career ...