Many people believe that IT professionals are socially awkward based on the nature of their jobs. There is more to just having tech skills, and one of the benefits is creating job opportunities. Though strong technical skills are vital, soft skills are also essential for any information technology position. If you’re preparing for an IT job interview, plan to demonstrate interpersonal skills like:

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Project Management

You are likely to have some of these people skills even if you’re an introvert or prefer to work alone. When you recognize their importance and learn how to demonstrate them in your cover letters, resume, and during job interviews, you’ll perform well.

What are Soft Skills?

With the diversity of job titles demanding various levels of training and education, Information Technology is considered a broad field. While some are engineers with PhDs, others are tech specialists with certificates or associate degrees. Nevertheless, IT professionals often forget that having soft skills is not enough to have the right technical skills and software expertise.

Note that job descriptions often involve IT professionals to network with others, manage resources, and lead firms at an executive level. In this regard, employers will test your soft skills as you proceed through the hiring process, even if you have solid hard skills. On the other hand, you’ll need hybrid skills ─ a combination of technical and non-technical skills, for many job roles.

Types of Soft Skills

Here, we’ve got seven different types of IT soft skills to get you prepared for Information Technology job roles:

Communication

Being able to communicate verbally is very important. Also,  clear and captivating written communication with the number of emails, design documents, and proposals an IT professional writes is essential. As an IT employee, you need to explain technical processes in clear and understandable terms for employers and customers. You need to also describe and defend your ideas in a way that will persuade others to support and finance your projects. In this sense, you need to have the following communication skills:

• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Collaboration
• Concision

Creativity

IT professionals are optimistic and untiringly looking towards the future. They anticipate and develop solutions for potential tech problems and needs. This kind of future thinking isn’t easy as it requires a lot of imagination and problem-solving creativity. However, employers will always reach out to tech professionals who can conceive unique solutions through:

• Imagination
• Strategy
• Problem Solving
• Forward Thinking
• Analytical Skills
• Open-Mindedness

Determination

IT projects can be delayed or even abandoned due to: poor teamwork, issues with vendors, financial problems, hardware or processes, problems with software, and more. For this reason, an IT professional needs to stay focused on the main goal and proceed with working towards achieving a better result. You can achieve your ultimate goal by starting a project with a clear and realistic timeline and budget. Once your employers see your ability to plan and complete a project, they’ll be impressed. However, you must have the following skills to achieve the ultimate goal of a project:

• Brainstorming
• Project Management
• Resilience
• Restructuring
• Troubleshooting
• Stress Management
• Process Improvement
• Problem Sensitivity

Flexibility

IT professionals often encounter unexpected changes or setbacks caused by projects with technical challenges and issues with vendors. In this regard, you must learn how to be flexible ─ to accept these changes and provide solutions to the problems. If employers see your flexibility, they’ll appreciate it a lot. At the same time, you must be open to feedback and suggestions from clients or employers. Pay more attention to the feedback given and be open to make adjustments where necessary to improve satisfaction. To prove your flexibility, you must have:

• Resilience
• Attention to Details
• Fast Learner
• Adaptability
• Quick Thinking
• Prioritizing

Leadership

Sometimes, they can ask you to obtain a management position to manage a team or project, even if it’s for a short period. The ability to delegate tasks and constantly focusing on the end goal means you have strong leadership skills. They can also integrate you into client and vendor management. To meet the company’s needs, you must be able to communicate effectively with clients and vendors. For employees to see your leadership skill, you must have:

• Project Management
• Integrity
• Decision Making
• Encouraging
• Collaboration
• Team Building
• Mentoring

Negotiation

Irrespective of your position in IT, you must have negotiation skills for making hiring decisions, collaborating with vendors, and selling your ideas to a firm. To stand out, you must be able to come to an agreement that favors both parties. Also, to get promoted to a management position, you must have:

• Focus
• Problem Sensitivity
• Conflict Management
• Reaching Consensus
• Awareness for Diversity in Religion and Ethnicity

Presentation

A presentation deals with a one-to-one conversation, meeting, and lecture. Whichever form you find yourself in, you must be able to describe your ideas clearly to your addressee. Even if you don’t have great ideas, demonstrating them efficiently to the audience will make them appreciate what you’ve got. To strengthen your presentation skills, you must work on your verbal communication, approachability, and familiarity with presentation tools. You must also have the skills of:

• Public Speaking
• Humor
• Engaging
• Sales
• Articulation

Additional Soft IT Skills

• Innovation
• Commitment
• Vision
• Coordination
• Goal-Oriented
• Investigation
• Building and Managing Expectations
• Judgment
• Initiative
• Multitasking
• Ongoing Improvement
• Picking Up on Patterns
• Ability to Work Independently
• Follow Directions
• Logical Thinking
• Assessment
• Evaluating
• Consulting
• Organization
• Memory
• Emotional Intelligence
• Research Solutions
• Optimization
• Integration
• Training
• Accuracy

How To Make Your Skills Stand Out

Include your skills in your resume: If you have any skills, add them to your resume,  especially in your work history and resume summary.

Highlight them in your cover letter: Add one or two skills in your cover letter, and list out the past projects you’ve completed.Mention them during an interview: Be prepared to describe how you used your skills to execute successful projects during interviews.