10 skills you didn't know could land you a tech job
Technical skills are needed for a tech career. However, secondary soft skills are just as important for success in tech . Discover the essential soft skills that tech professionals need and explore how the right soft skills will complement your technical skills, helping you land an exciting tech role.
Do you have the right skills to become a tech pro?
It’s no surprise that you’ll need some degree of technical skills to work in the tech field. What you may be surprised to find out, however, is that technical skills won’t get you far without the right soft skills.
What are technical skills?
Technical skills, also known as hard skills, including device management, configuring networks, and scripting are all skills that can be taught. These are often considered high income skills, but aside from meeting the job description, they won’t always help you land a role in tech
What are soft skills?
On the other hand, soft skills like creativity, conflict resolution, and problem-solving aren't necessarily skills you can learn in the classroom. Often, the soft skills examples listed above are qualities that are innate to your personality and are the skills that you’re naturally good at. Not only are soft skills essential to interpersonal success, but knowing how and when to leverage them will often lead to success at work, too.
Tech pros know their skillset
Skilled tech professionals have the right balance of tech skills and soft skills. More importantly, they know when to leverage their soft skills to help advance in their tech careers. Understanding your skills and your career goals will determine the right skills to put on a resume.
If you’re interested in entering tech, but don’t have a technical skillset yet, you are not alone. With the right soft skills, you can find your space in the tech industry, and work towards your dream tech job. Explore jobs in help desk, network support, risk management, and others and get closer to developing professional skills that can help you explore tech careers.
Want to see what tech roles lend well to your natural skills and abilities? Take our free career quiz to find out.
Start your tech career: 10 soft skills for tech jobs
Demand for tech roles continues to grow across all industries, according to the CompTIA State of the Tech Workforce 2024 report. While tech roles require certain technical skills, many tech roles also need you to be a good communicator, problem solver, and someone who can look at the abstract and draw meaningful solutions.
Let’s take a closer look at a list of soft skills that can help you land a tech role.
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Communication
Almost every tech job requires good communication skills, both verbal and written – email communication will likely be a big part of your job.
You'll need to be an effective communicator with your supervisors and colleagues to help them solve technology issues and better utilize tech tools. If you're a developer or work in tech security, you'll likely be working on a team and will need to have decision-making skills and be able to communicate your ideas clearly to team members.
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Organization
Organizational skills make you more efficient and productive at work. Many tech careers are dynamic, allowing you to jump around to several different projects and tasks. Multitasking can be an important skill – but only if you can properly organize yourself. If organization and time management come easily to you, your role in the technology sector might also.
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Analytical Abilities
If logical thinking comes easy to you, and you like identifying and solving problems, or taking things apart to see how they work, you likely have strong analytical skills. This gives you a major edge in tech where you're expected to find logical solutions to problems frequently in your work environment.
Examples of analytical abilities include the ability to create – and digest– pivot tables in a spreadsheet, conduct data analysis, identify trends over time, and identify key performance indicators. It's also important to learn how to identify critical events and eliminate outliers from data sets.
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Creativity
Creativity may not be a stated requirement for all tech jobs, but it's a useful talent in many of them. Creativity is the springboard of today’s groundbreaking tech products and revolutionary ideas. The tech industry recognizes this and values individuals who can think outside the box and find unique solutions to everyday problems. In fact, one of the major requirements in today's job market is the ability to use technology creatively to fulfill a particular business need or create a solution that helps the company move forward.
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Project Management
As a tech professional, you'll be juggling multiple projects and responsibilities, and being able to meet deadlines and hit benchmarks is critical. Good project management involves the ability to make professional plans, set and reach goals, and work with colleagues to resolve project issues.
A natural aptitude for project management would make you a great fit for many careers in technology. Refined project management skills also give you an edge if you want to move into a leadership position.
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Perseverance
If you don't give up easily on difficult tasks, you could go far in a technology job. The best tech professionals tinker around persistently with technologies to find solutions to challenges, even when everyone else has given up.
Your ability to persevere will naturally result in continuous learning, and self-growth, habits that can help you advance in your tech career. When the going gets tough, the most stellar tech pros stick with it and reap the rewards.
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Problem Solving
Do you like solving puzzles? An information technology career might be right up your alley. Tech jobs are some of the best jobs for people who enjoy and are good at problem solving.
Better yet, many technical skills you need for various tech careers can be picked up through tinkering, trial and error.
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Resourcefulness
Part of being resourceful in tech means you’re able to find technology, software, and products that enhance your productivity and the productivity of others. Tech professionals who know how to use available resources tend to shine in their jobs. And IT workers who are consistently interested in seeking out new resources often have an edge.
Resourcefulness is especially handy for those with less technology experience – like career changers. You don't have to always have the answer – you just need to know how to find it.
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Curiosity
If you enjoy learning new things and genuinely want to know how things work, you will thrive in tech.
For example, the best security professionals have an innate sense of curiosity about threats, how to penetrate systems, and different ways to outsmart hackers. Without this sense of curiosity, they would most likely not be as creative in applying security controls to company processes.
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Interest in Helping Others
Humans are often the end users of technology and the best tech professionals have a natural desire to help people.
Whether you're creating new technology that makes people's lives easier or helping them figure out ways around technological hurdles, information technology jobs are some of the best careers for people who love to help others. One of the best entry level tech roles is an IT help desk customer service role.
Find the right tech job that aligns with your soft skills
Finding a job that makes use of your top soft skills can significantly improve your career fulfillment. If you’re someone who wants to get into tech but is unsure where to start, understanding your soft skills and where you’re naturally inclined, can point you in the right direction.
