“Seven soft skills which are even more applicable than hard skills“ - Ivan Panahno, a software engineer, studying at our university, claims

Nowardays employers have  been looking for applicants who are not only experienced and have some deep professional knowledge ,– some certain soft skills are crucially  important for them. After all, they are directly related to the productivity of IT teams.

Ivan Panakhno, a third-year student of Computer Science at our university, combines theoretical and practical skills while studying and working at the same time. He willingly agreed to share his experiences and impressions connected with  his career in the IT field. While working at the Gains company as a software engineer, Ivan noticed that without certain soft skills an IT specialist would never rise to Senior and Lead positions.

"Even at interviews, when a candidate's hard skills are worse than his competitor’s, but soft skills prevail, the candidate with a high level of soft skills will clearly be a priority.” Ivan claims.

It is possible to point out the seven most important soft skills, which are studied during  the lessons of English by the students of our University, according to the advanced study of the English language.

• Willingness to learn. The ideal candidate is a lifelong learner with a flexible mindset who believes that with much  effort, he can develop any skill thanks to the effort. He is inquisitive and constantly looking for new information to solve problems.
• Communication skills. It is critically important to be able to negotiate, resolve conflicts, conduct negotiations, convey one's own opinion and adequately perceive the opinion of others.
• Flexibility and ability to adapt. It is important to train the ability to see changes as new opportunities for growth and to adapt to changes in working conditions. Calm reaction skills. The ability to adequately perceive criticism provides an opportunity to grow and develop. It is important not to be disappointed in your abilities, not to scold yourself and not to perceive criticism as hostile, but to hear what they want to tell you and how you can become better.
• Self-management. This includes control over personal time, the ability to set priorities correctly, and the ability to maintain a work-life balance.
• Autonomy and responsibility. In order to enjoy the trust of the manager, work with interesting projects and have enough freedom, it is important to justify this freedom, to complete tasks on time and diligently, and to be independent.
• Emotional intelligence. This is how well you know how to recognize your own and other people's emotions, energize your colleagues, understand the motivation, discomfort and desires of other people and your own.

"Thanks to the innovative content of the study, which involves three pairs of English in the first and second years, we have the opportunity to learn and train soft skills in classes, which is necessary both for getting a job and for further career growth," Ivan emphasized.

                  Prepared by a senior teacher of the English Chair, SUT, Anzhelika Nikolaieva