Despite what some think, soft skills are at the core of success in IT. Employers want a good mixture of hard and soft skills to best assist their business. Your ability to communicate, stay organised, and collaborate with your team are just a few soft skills that will set you apart and allow you to thrive in the world of IT. These skills can be the difference between an average employee and a highly valued member of the team who can grow into a leadership position.
A nationwide study conducted by West Monroe, a business and technology consulting firm, concluded that 78% of leaders in HR have found that they have become more focused on finding technology employees with strong soft skills while 67% have withheld job offers as a direct result of a candidate’s lack of soft skills. Poor soft skills lead teams into trouble, missed deadlines, and underperforming results.
IT and Technology jobs are in steep demand, with 1,900 new cyber-security and IT jobs created alone this year in Defence. These soft skills are what can differentiate between top talent when applying for IT roles. Whether you’re looking for a career change or moving jobs in the IT industry, here are the top sought-after IT soft skills.
Top 6 soft skills for IT jobs
1. Communication
Nearly every IT job requires good communication skills that are both written and verbal. Whether you're communicating with colleagues or clients, presenting your thoughts and ideas in a clear and concise manner is crucial.
2. Organisation
As many jobs in IT are quite dynamic and see you working on many projects and tasks – often all at once – employers want people who they can trust with their digital assets: people who are organised, effective with their time, and meticulous. Additionally, someone who gets stuff done in a timely manner is immediately more valuable. Many people in this industry prefer to work from home. Although it might be easier and, in some cases, more efficient to work remotely, many fall into several productivity holes. Some easy ways to avoid this and stay productive when working from home are to take breaks when needed, create a workday routine, and optimise your workspace.
3. Collaboration/Teamwork
While many in IT prefer to work alone, many tasks require a lot of teamwork. This will be a key decider that will determine your employability, as employers need to see if you will enhance or disrupt their team dynamics. You must be able to understand and harness the efficiencies of collaboration, especially when they have different insights or contrasting personalities.
4. Creativity
Creativity might not be a requirement of the job but it’s a very useful skill. If no one in tech was creative, the industry wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today. Regardless of your job or responsibilities, you will need to generate some ideas to improve products or processes. Creative applications of technology to solve business needs and problems are highly desirable in any company.
5. Leadership
Even if you’re not in a management position, leadership is highly valued within a team as good leaders motivate those around them and increase team engagement, productivity, retention, and performance.
6. Empathy
A commonly overlooked soft skill is empathy. Developing technology is all about solving problems and it becomes extremely difficult if you can't understand the user’s pain points. Additionally, empathy is needed for a team to bond, collaborate, engage, discuss, and eventually develop quality solutions. Empathy in this regard generates greater efficiency and effectiveness within a team.
Is IT right for you?
Many think that they’re not cut out for jobs in IT because they don’t currently have the technical skills, but you may already possess some of the soft skills needed to thrive in the technology industry.
Looking to start your IT career? There are a wide range of jobs out there for you! Australia is in desperate need of IT professionals so if you’re looking for a career change or for a new job, we’ve got you covered. Below are the latest IT jobs we have to offer.
Business Architect: We are seeking a Business Architect for a Federal Government agency.
Solutions Architect – Data: We are seeking a Solution Architect - Data for a Federal Government agency.
Solutions Architect – Cyber: We are seeking a Solution Architect - Cyber for a Federal Government agency.
CRM and Solution Architect: We are seeking SAP CRM Specialists & Solution Architects for a Federal Government agency.
Couldn't find what you're looking for? Have a look at the various positions we have open here: https://www.arima.com.au/apsjobs