In today’s competitive digital landscape, hiring the right web developer goes beyond technical prowess alone. While technical skills are undoubtedly crucial, possessing a set of essential soft skills is equally important. These soft skills not only enhance productivity and teamwork but also contribute to a positive work environment and client satisfaction. In this article, we’ll dive into the key soft skills to look for when hiring web developers.

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills, commonly known as essential or fundamental skills, include personality traits and behaviors inherent in an individual. Unlike hard skills, which are easily measurable like proficiency in a specific programming language, soft skills hold equal importance and typically enhance productivity and collaboration with teammates.

Having understood the concept of soft skills, which ones should you prioritize when recruiting new software engineers? Let’s explore some of the crucial soft skills you should be looking for when hiring new web developers.

Communication Skill

If web developers lack effective communication skills, they’ll struggle to collaborate within a team, convey ideas to stakeholders, articulate issues encountered in design or code, and contribute to bug fixing or marketing initiatives for the project. Communication ability is indispensable for every team member.

This is particularly critical as many businesses have transitioned to remote work setups. In this context, meetings are conducted via platforms like Zoom, where team members may need to communicate problems or collaborate on the spot. Effective communication enhances a team member’s capacity to streamline project timelines and improve overall efficiency.

Teamwork Skill

It’s essential to emphasize that your developers must possess this soft skill. Without the capacity to collaborate effectively within a team, these employees will face difficulties in contributing to the project’s success. Being a valuable team player entails a willingness to exceed expectations and take necessary actions to support the team in achieving its objectives.

This collaboration extends beyond merely sharing code on platforms like GitHub and assisting with debugging. Team members should be adept at both giving and receiving advice from colleagues at various levels. Furthermore, mutual respect for each other’s work, ethics, and needs is imperative among team members.

Time Management and Organization Skill

If your developers struggle with time management, meeting deadlines will prove challenging. The same applies to their organizational abilities. Both of these attributes significantly contribute to developers becoming efficient and productive team members.

When working with a teammate who demonstrates effective time management skills, others can rely on them to fulfill their responsibilities. In contrast, teammates may feel frustrated and burdened if individuals are unable to manage their time effectively, leading to others frequently having to compensate for their shortcomings.

Emotional Intelligence

By hiring a developer with strong emotional intelligence, you’re acquiring someone who can effectively perceive and understand not only their own emotions but also those of others. This skill equips a developer to navigate the emotional challenges commonly faced in their profession.

In the fast-paced world of development, deadlines can create pressure and tensions may arise. With high emotional intelligence, a developer is better equipped to manage any situation without succumbing to breakdowns or outbursts. Active listening, a key component of emotional intelligence, allows individuals to process experiences productively and efficiently.

Problem-solving Skills

Certain issues can be resolved directly through logic and reasoning, particularly in the field of software development. However, occasionally, a creative solution not only addresses the problem but also leads to an even superior outcome. Creative individuals produce innovative work. To cultivate a development team capable of pushing boundaries and thinking beyond conventional approaches, it’s essential to seek developers proficient in creative problem-solving.

Accountability

Mistakes are unavoidable. When errors occur, whether it’s a coding mistake or a missed deadline, it’s crucial to avoid a scenario where the development team engages in a game of assigning blame. Instead, you should recruit developers who are willing to acknowledge their mistakes as these developers can enable the team to address the issue promptly and meet deadlines.

Without accountability, team members may waste valuable time pointing fingers at others. It’s essential for your engineers to realize that admitting mistakes is acceptable and in most cases, they won’t face termination for taking responsibility.

Adaptability and Versatility

Employing someone who is inflexible and unable to adapt to various circumstances will hinder progress. Not everything unfolds according to plan, and unforeseen challenges inevitably arise.

When a project encounters setbacks, developers must be capable of adjusting to shifting requirements, resolving issues within the code provided by teammates, or addressing problems with a malfunctioning API. By hiring adaptable and versatile developers, you ensure that projects are completed regardless of the obstacles encountered.

Patience

Projects don’t always progress rapidly. At times, a project may pause while awaiting input from another team or a third party. During such periods, it’s crucial for your developers to demonstrate patience. Even if one team member completes their tasks ahead of others, rushing the work compromises its quality.

It’s essential for every team member to recognize that individuals work at different speeds. Moreover, when control of the project shifts from developers to departments like marketing or management, patience becomes even more critical. This is particularly relevant in DevOps, where multiple teams contribute to a project. Team members in operations may not grasp issues as swiftly as developers do, emphasizing the importance of patience as a virtue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while technical expertise is essential, soft skills are equally indispensable in web development. Hiring web developers with strong communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability skills fosters a collaborative and productive work environment, ultimately leads to successful project outcomes and satisfied clients.

At 8seneca, our dedication lies in delivering tailored B2B services, primarily concentrating on IT outsourcing solutions. Should you need IT outsourcing services, feel free to contact us. Additionally, we are currently in search of experienced Senior .NET/Angular Developers and Java/Angular to join our team. Visit our recruitment center for detailed job descriptions and information on other career openings within our company.