A successful career in IT isn’t just about possessing the hard skills needed to do the job well; you also need certain soft skills, which can be just as significant as hard skills. In fact, when employers are faced with multiple candidates with similar IT skills, it may very well be soft skills that will get a candidate hired.
Here are some of the most valuable soft skills for IT professionals.
1. A Good Communicator.
An IT professional needs to communicate with team members, customers, and management about tasks, projects, and the place of IT within the overall strategy. Although many IT professionals may not be strong natural communicators, it is a skill worth developing for any career, including IT.
2. Self-Motivated.
IT often involves complicated problems, and the best way of doing something is not usually the easiest. Furthermore, IT departments are usually understaffed, so leadership has its hands full and can’t always supervise staff as closely as it might intend. Being able to learn new things and complete tasks without being micromanaged will make an IT professional a valuable asset to any company.
3. Effective Collaborator.
Communicating with others is one step toward success, but working with a team requires skills like compromising, evaluating ideas, and showing mutual respect. Being able to work with a team to maintain IT infrastructure and solve problems that arise is a skill valued by many employers.
4. Flexible.
IT is a fast-paced field, and it is not predictable from day to day. You may have certain tasks scheduled at certain times, but if a problem comes up, you will often have to drop everything and take care of it before it impedes the functioning of the company or crashes your systems.
5. Mentoring and Leadership.
These soft skills are useful in many jobs, including IT. Even those not in leadership can influence the functioning of the team positively and serve as a mentor once they get some experience. Mentoring and leadership skills, along with superior IT skills, will also lead to promotions.
6. Able to Present.
Not everyone is comfortable making a presentation to company executives, colleagues at a conference, or even just to your supervisor and team. If you can make presentations, it will help you stand out from the crowd, and it could even help you improve your interview skills.
7. Determined.
Between stubborn IT problems like viruses and malfunctioning equipment, budgetary pressure from leadership that doesn’t understand the company’s IT needs, and a constantly changing IT landscape, professionals in this field will need a lot of determination to be successful in their roles.
PC AGE offers IT training courses to help professionals get the technical skills they need to pair with these valuable soft skills for a successful IT career. Job placement is a part of the curriculum so that you will be able to put your newfound skills to work right away. Contact us to request information about PC AGE’s programs to get your career on track.
Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing