I thought it would be interesting to deviate from a focus on the technical skills of computer science and aspiring software engineers and focus on personal qualities instead. We all know that our jobs and careers are not just defined by our technical abilities, but also the ‘soft skills’ or our personal abilities. After all, that’s why interviews exist and why behavioral-type questions are asked.
Over the summer, I held a series of short coffee chats with employees in the company I was interning with. These were early career to senior-level employees. I picked their brains about their career journeys, how they define successful employees, how they approach their jobs, etc.. In this post, I will share some of what I learned.
A team lead within a research development engineering group once told me the top 5 qualities they look for in an ideal engineer. In their opinion, the ideal engineer:
- Knows how to plan
- Knows how to write code
- Knows how to triage defects
- Has the ability to do code reviews well
- Works within the environment that’s given
Another team lead shared with me their ideas of a successful employee. They believe that technologies can be taught and learned, but successful employees display:
- Teamwork – ability to work with others
- Initiative – volunteering to do things or taking control of own career
- Learning Ability – know how to learn and what to focus on, how do you keep yourself current?
- Collaboration (to me, this is similar to teamwork, but with outside groups)
Throughout my internship, I also heard from others about the value of mentorship. Below are some more thoughts that employees shared with me:
- “Have confidence in yourself. Everyone is scared.”
- When you don’t know something: “I wasn’t born with that knowledge.”
- Knowing when to ask: “Help me figure out how to do it”
- “When you have a task always try to do it better than the way it was previously done”
- Value stream: “No task today happens in silos. Always try to connect the dots. ”
- “Don’t be afraid of a hard ask. It’s an opportunity for growth if it’s hard”
- “Be comfortable knowing that there will be change. Channel uncertaintly around change into excitment and motivation”
I believe all of these qualities and quotes are helpful to keep in mind. Particularly as I transition how of this phase of being a student and into a full-time employee. I’ve done this once before in my previous career and now I have a chance to do it again. However, this time I have a lot more experience and general business knowledge to bring to the table.
