The skills that IT specialists use in their work are divided into two types - hard skills ("hard skills") and soft skills ("flexible skills"). The first are the professional skills that engineers use to solve technical problems. This, for example, knowledge of Java or knowledge of the Big Data stack.

What about the latter? Soft skills are a complex of non-specialized skills that are equally important in work. What are these skills, why does an IT specialist need them, how to develop them, why engineers with advanced "flexible skills" are becoming more and more in demand, explains the team lead of one of the EPAM testers' teams and soft skills coach Sergey Atroshchankov.

What are soft skills

Very often, an equal sign is put between the concepts of "soft skills" and "sociability". Like, if you know how to put words into complete sentences, then you are fine with soft skills. This is a very cursory representation.

In my opinion, the concept of "flexible skills" includes two large sections - communication and goal setting.

What is soft skills for an engineer

It is very difficult to be a team player without interpersonal skills (the ability to ask questions, listen to and hear another, express your opinion with reason). If you work in an international team, you also need to understand the principles of intercultural communication and business correspondence. Imagine you are writing a letter to a foreign colleague that you have found several bugs in his code. You point out mistakes and ask them to correct them as soon as possible. But for some reason a foreign colleague reads the letter and starts to wonder. You seem rude to him and even a little aggressive. And all because instead of "Could you please fix these bugs?" wrote "Fix these bugs". All this seemingly ostentatious politeness, "verbal fluff" is the norm for Western business correspondence. And you need to know these rules in order to stay on good terms with your colleague and get results from teamwork.

An engineer also needs soft skills in order to properly plan his time, set effective goals, manage his emotions, and consciously approach work.

Plus, sooner or later you will want to grow: get a promotion or a salary. At least this is the case with most engineers. And here you need to understand that with each new step in your career, "flexible skills" increasingly come to the fore. In high positions (team lead, manager), you cannot do without leadership qualities, formed emotional intelligence, and conflict management skills. Of course, these skills will not appear on your own, you need to start to form them in advance. You should treat the development of soft skills no less responsibly than upgrading your technical knowledge base.

What soft skills does an engineer need

In my opinion, a basic set of soft skills should be specified for each position. A specialist must understand that if, for example, he plans to become a senior engineer in two years, he needs to improve not only his technical base, but also his presentation skills, effective communication with colleagues and customers.

I think of the soft skill matrix as a pyramid. Its foundation is the basic skills that any engineer should have. As a specialist is promoted, the skill pyramid also grows. A senior engineer should already possess not only basic skills, but also a set of soft skills required for his position. The skill base for a team lead is the sum of the skills of an engineer and a senior engineer. He builds on it the skills of a team leader.

Literature

• Brian Tracy "Delegation and Management"
• Jim Collins "Good to Great"
• David Caruso "Leadership Emotional Intelligence: How to Develop and Apply"
• David Logan "Leader and the Tribe"
• Daniel Pink Drive. What really motivates us "
• Larry King "How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere"
• Maxim Batyrev "45 tattoos of the manager"
• Mikhail Litvak "Psychological Aikido", "Command or Obey?" Psychology of management"
• Patrick Lencioni "Five vices of the team", "Why not everyone likes to go" to work. The Truth About Employee Engagement "," Death by Meeting "
• Sergei Shabanov, Alena Aleshina “Emotional intelligence. Russian practice "
• Timothy Lister, Tom DeMarco Human Factors. Successful projects and teams "
• Tom DeMarco “Deadline. A novel about project management "
• Frederic Laloux "Discovering the Organizations of the Future"
• Eric Byrne Games People Play. Psychology of Human Relations "

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In modern career guidance, in trainings and in articles on pedagogy, there are such American terms as "Hard skills" and "soft skills"... In this article we will tell you about their meaning, where they came from and what to do with them for an ordinary person.

What are hard and soft skills?

Hard skills - (English "hard" skills) professional skills that can be taught and measured. To train hard skills, you need to master knowledge and instructions, the quality of training can be checked using an exam. Examples of hard skills: typing on a computer, driving a car, reading, mathematics, knowledge of a foreign language, using computer programs.
Soft skills - (English "soft" skills) universal competences that cannot be quantified. They are sometimes called personality traits because they depend on a person's character and are acquired through personal experience. Examples of soft skills: social, intellectual and volitional competences such as communication skills, teamwork, creativity, punctuality, poise.

Short story

The terms hard and soft skills have their origins in military science. In 1959, the US Army began to develop a science-based approach to the training of military personnel. During the development, the researchers identified the importance for the military personnel not only of professional skills (hard skills), but universal competences (soft skills) that do not lend themselves to systematic training. The understanding of the differences between soft and hard skills was expressed in the doctrine of the "Systems for the design of military training" in 1968 in this way: hard skills are skills for working mainly with machines, soft skills are skills for working with people and papers. After the terms took root in military science and psychology, they passed into free use in business. Today, in vacancies, including in Russian, you can find hard skills and soft skills instead of the “professional skills” and “personal qualities” sections.

What is the difference between hard and soft?

• To succeed in mastering hard skills needs intelligence (left brain hemisphere, IQ, logic), for development soft skills "emotionality" is required (right hemisphere of the brain, EQ, empathy).
• Requirements to hard skills remain the same regardless of the company you work for, people and corporate culture. Soft skillson the contrary, they are changeable and situational. For example, programming refers to professional skills (hard skills): the rules for creating good software code will be the same for any programmer in any company. Communication skills are universal competences (soft skills): the rules for constructing an effective speech will depend on the audience the speaker is addressing, on the speech situation (a conversation in the subway or a speech at a conference).
• Master hard skills possible in various educational institutions (schools, institutes, additional courses). Usually, certain levels of difficulty are allocated for them, along which you can gradually climb, like a ladder. For example, English proficiency is divided into Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, etc. To get to the next level, you must pass an exam. Unlike hard skills, for mastering soft skills There are no easy step-by-step instructions: a person either has any quality from birth (for example, friendliness, calm character), or acquires it with experience, through trial and error (for example, the ability to work in a team, leadership qualities). Soft skills are learned more slowly than hard skills.
• For hard skills there are confirming certificates and diplomas that the employee has the necessary professional skills. Soft skills do not have certification and it is much more difficult to prove their existence.

What skills are more important?

This mainly depends on the profession and position in which the person works. Can be called 3 groups of professions by the ratio of soft and hard skills:
1. Profession in which hard prevails over soft: for example, a nuclear physicist who can be a great specialist and do a great job, but still not be able to work in teams and interact with people.
2. Professions in which both types of skills are required equally: for example, lawyers, accountants, customs officers. These specialists require a set of professional skills, as well as communication skills, organization, patience, goodwill, as they work with people.
3. Professions in which soft skills prevail: For example, sales, business, politics or creative professions. So, there are skilled salespeople without the education of a marketer who win the client with their charm. A variety of social competencies are involved in effective sales: the ability to speak beautifully and competently, to speak in public, the ability to listen, the ability to win over the interlocutor, self-confidence, etc.

It should be admitted that soft skills are the competencies of the future ... Of the two nuclear physicists, the more successful will be the one who develops his social competencies. He will probably be able to make a more successful scientific career than his uncommunicative colleague.

How to understand whether you need to develop soft skills?

If you want to understand how soft skills are needed in your work, then answer a few questions:
1. How important is the way I interact with others for my career advancement?
2. Are there people in the company in a similar position who move up the career ladder faster?
3. Does my temperament influence my promotion in the company?

If you answered “yes” to these questions, then working on your universal competencies is imperative. For a guide, we will tell you what universal competencies are the most promising (based on research by professional network LinkedIn):

• Sociability
• Organization
• Skill to work in team
• Punctuality
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Flexibility
• Friendliness
• Leadership skills
• Ability to solve complex problems

Our Center has developed a whole range of trainings for schoolchildren, allowing them to develop social, intellectual and volitional competencies even in adolescence. This is the period when a person adapts to society. Communication becomes extremely important, it will be difficult for an uncommunicative teenager to interact with the team, he will feel like a stranger and emotionally depressed. Trainings reveal problems in the development of soft skills and with the help of activating techniques to turn them into strengths of the personality.
We will be glad to see you on our

Soft-skills (Personal development)

The result of any work depends not only on qualifications, but also on the personal qualities of the person who does it. Resistance to stress, the ability to manage your time, the ability to communicate, speak in public, convince you that you are right, motivate and inspire - these qualities will help you do your work better, faster and better!

Every day, you must build effective relationships with colleagues from other departments, plan time, manage your emotions and those of others. Without this, it is impossible to successfully run a business and make a career.

What to do? Develop your managerial skills and abilities in courses self-control (soft skills) in the center "Specialist"! Under the guidance of experienced business coaches, completing practical tasks, participating in role-playing games and simulations that force you to make independent decisions, you will learn how to manage your time and will do more. You will increase your resistance to stress, be able to manage yourself in any situation, and significantly reduce the impact of negative emotions on your work and life. And remember: Soft Skills important both in work and in life. So your investment in training will pay off twice!

Developing the key management skills of managers means investing in business development. A motivated specialist who knows how to properly organize his working time, is sociable and able to communicate with clients and other employees effectively and without conflicts, self-confident, can give the company much more than just a manager! Train your employees on courses Soft Skills in the center "Specialist"! We are also always ready to organize field trainings for you according to the individual requirements of your company.

Take courses in personal growth at the "Specialist" center - work better, faster and better!

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Students of theoretical courses can use 2 versions of textbooks - paper (for classroom work) and electronic (for independent work). For comfortable learning outside the classroom, we offer you e-learning materials *. You will be able to study using your mobile devices: tablets and smartphones. Tutorials are available on all major platforms: Windows, Android, iOS. It is very easy to get access to electronic materials! Just download an electronic textbook from your personal account. Use it when reviewing material at home, at work, and on the road. Electronic textbooks are environmentally friendly, convenient and modern!

Whether you are at least seven inches in the forehead - without certain communication skills and teamwork, the path to bosses is closed. What are soft skills? Can this be learned? And why do firms strongly demand them from their employees?

Conquer the employer? Easy!

Imagine this situation: several candidates are applying for the same position. Their qualifications are practically the same - excellent education, work experience abroad, excellent recommendations. What to do? Whom do you choose? In such cases, soft skills or the so-called "soft skills" become the decisive factor in favor of one or another applicant - this is the word-for-word translation of this phrase from English.

Which is heavier: a kilogram of cotton wool or a kilogram of iron?

Bettina Bartkoviak: The main thing is team spirit

Soft skills are communication and management talents. These include the ability to convince, lead, manage, make presentations, find the right approach to people, the ability to resolve conflict situations, public speaking - in general, those qualities and skills that could be called universal, and not those that are inherent in people of a certain profession.

The question arises: what is more important - hard skills, which are professional knowledge, or soft skills, that is, the ability to communicate and work in a team? They are at least equal, says Bettina Bartkowiak, an expert on recruiting and personnel policy.

“The higher the position, the more important social skills play, while professional knowledge fade into the background. This is explained by the fact that people in high positions, as a rule, have enough employees who advise them on all sorts of issues. the main thing is to be able to make the right decision, motivate employees and successfully lobby for their ideas, ”the specialist explains.

Give the team spirit!

How flexible are you? - The employer wants to know

What do employers want to see in their employees first of all? “One of the main requirements for job seekers today is the ability to work in a team,” says Bettina Bartkowiak. “This is due to the fact that often the work process is in the nature of a project in which several people are involved.”

Very often in job advertisements, according to the expert, you can find such a requirement as "flexibility". "It implies the ability to quickly rebuild according to changing circumstances and resistance to stress," the specialist explains. "For example, an employer expects his subordinate to be ready to stay an hour or two after work without question if an urgent task needs to be completed."

Otherwise, the list of soft skills often depends on a specific position and field of activity. Take computer science, for example. It would seem: sit in front of your computer and work. But no, even in this area, two-thirds of job advertisements require a candidate with a team spirit, and every second vacancy is written in black and white: "A potential employee must have communication talents."

What if the character is like that?

Helmut Wagner: Soft Skills Can Be Learned

Most German universities have recognized the need to prepare their graduates for the current labor market situation. Thus, the curricula of 80 percent of German universities include seminars and trainings on the acquisition of soft skills, or, as they are also called, "key competencies." However, the question arises: is it possible to learn this or soft skills - is it still a matter of character and temperament?

“Social skills are not constant. Take, for example, a child aged 2, then 10, and finally 15 years old. We see that his ability to communicate and interact with other people grows from year to year. Many things - say, a brilliant presentation - are the result of training and hard work, "says Helmut Wagner, Dean of the Studium Generale at Munich Graduate School of Applied Sciences. It is at such faculties that seminars and trainings on the development of communication and social skills are most often offered.

For example, the Munich Graduate School offers seminars on project organization and information management. “Our students learn how to communicate successfully and resolve conflicts. There are workshops on creativity development and much more,” says Professor Wagner.

Soft and fluffy, but with a firm hand

However, "soft skills" should not be confused with "soft character" or "softness," notes Bettina Bartkowiak. For example, the ability to achieve goals and "implement" your ideas requires a strong character. According to the expert, the fact that companies expect their applicants to have soft skills indicates that they do not want to see narrow-minded specialists in their ranks.

In the modern world, the main thing is information, and the possession of some knowledge in itself is static, because they can quickly become outdated. It is much more important to be able to get the right information at the right time. You can adequately meet this tough market requirement by mastering "soft skills" - soft skills.

Context

How to Choose a Business School?

There are five thousand MBA programs in the world. How to choose "your" business school? And most importantly, where - in Europe or in the USA? Representatives of international schools of management and prospective MBA participants provide recommendations. (08.10.2009)

Hard and soft skills are popular terms that are often used by personal trainers, coaches, and consultants. The difference between these concepts and their application in practice - in our article.

Hard and soft skills: what's the difference

Hard skills (English "hard skills") is a set of professional skills and abilities related to the technical side of the activity. Such skills can be demonstrated, they are mandatory requirements for hiring, they are indicated in job descriptions.

Soft skills (English "soft skills") are not associated with a specific type of activity, but with communications for effective interaction with colleagues, clients and partners. They are often called "personal qualities", emphasizing the direct relationship between soft skills and a person's character, temperament and personal experience.

At the same time, hard skills are mastered at a higher rate compared to soft skills.

Examples of hard and soft skills

"Solid" skills:

• Vehicle driving.
• Knowledge of foreign languages.
• Possession of highly specialized programs (in terms of accounting and management accounting, web design, programming, video editing).

"Soft" skills:

• The ability to continuously learn (lifelong learning / education / lifelong-learning /).
• Time management.
• Sociability (negotiating, persuasion and argumentation, teamwork, customer focus).
• Managing stress and emotions (the ability to be tactful and show diplomacy).

There are also more narrowly focused "soft" skills, for example, sales communication, strategic thinking and quick decision making for managers.

Why develop hard and soft skills

The results of the joint show that managerial success in Fortune 500 companies is 75% dependent on soft skills, while hard skills are only 25%. We conclude that “soft” skills have a greater influence on career development. It is possible to hone the writing of program codes to automatism, but only the ability to interact in a social environment will help such a programmer become the head of a software company.

How to develop qualities

You can improve hard skills with the help of training centers (universities, schools, refresher courses). Moreover, such skills are characterized by segmentation into several levels of complexity. The study of each of the levels ends with an exam, certification, verification. Bringing hard skills to automatism is facilitated by daily practice during work.

Soft skills are acquired through personal experience, through trial and error. Personal and background trainings, master classes, networking and communication will help accelerate development. Self-education and development in the process of work, corporate training programs will also contribute to the formation of "soft" skills.