What Soft Skills are important for App Developers?

Soft skills are interpersonal skills that relate to working with others and developing one's career. These skills are non-technical and are not job-specific. In addition to coding and application management, companies should expect app developers to work with others to ensure project success. To be a successful app developer requires the ability to communicate, manage teams, and be flexible to deadlines—soft skills that not every developer has. 

While it's crucial for app developers to have the technical know-how to succeed at their jobs, their hard skill set shouldn't be the only skill set employers are looking at. While soft skills have always been necessary for workplace success, it's only becoming more prominent as IT teams grow and remote work becomes the norm. So, this prompts the question, what soft skills should employers seek out for their next app developer?

In almost any job, communication is vital—it is an incredibly essential skill for technical spaces like software development. No one will be able to explain technical work better than your app developer. Therefore, you need to find a professional in the field who can communicate their work in a way that conveys value and makes sense to multiple audiences—your team, the client, and other software experts. To assess communication skills, here are some questions you can ask:

When seeking out your next app developer, look for someone adaptable and excited to learn new things. Having an employee who is inquisitive, flexible, and eager to try new things enables them to find solutions that otherwise wouldn't have surfaced. The IT world is constantly changing, and having an app developer ready to take those changes in stride is crucial for their longevity on any team. Here are three questions you can ask candidates to assess their adaptability skills:

Every software developer needs to have a time management process to succeed. When working with or even managing a team, your employees must know how to prioritize specific projects over others and ensure they are meeting deadlines. If your app developer has poor time management skills, this can disrupt your entire team's workflow and timeline. To assess someone's time management skills, ask these three questions:

Any business leader knows that issues will always arise—it's just a matter of when and where. You will want your app developer to take new challenges in stride and collaborate with others to find a set of solutions that best address the issues at hand. Your developer will need critical thinking skills to ensure your team's success, here are three questions you can ask potential new hires to assess their problem-solving skills: