Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Important Job Skills for Software Engineers

Important Job Skills for Software EngineersImportant Job Skills for Software EngineersAlso known as software developers, software engineering is one of fastest-growing specialty fields in the United States. Most experienced software engineers make over six figures and enjoy great perks, such as being able to work remotely from home or while traveling. While ansicht engineers do require a certain set of skills, taking the time to hone these skills is worthwhile. While leid all software engineers/developers have a college degree, many of them acquire a degree in computer science or machine learning. The demand for software engineers exists in every industry. The Skills Software Engineers Need Software engineerscreate software and systems for computers. They employ math, science, engineering, and design techniques to build these systems. Additionally, they must be able to test and evaluate their own systems of software built by other engineers. Software engineers usually have a degr ee in computer science. They should have stronganalyticalandproblem-solving skills. A software engineer has a thirst for new technologies, as well for maintaining strongcommunicationandinterpersonal skills. Software engineers must be highlymotivated and experienced in various programming languages. Types of Software Engineer Skills Multitasking As a software engineer, you will be required to manage multiple projects in a deadline-driven environment. Whether you work remotely as a freelancer or as a full-time employee in an office, youll need to manage multiple projects at once, each with their own urgent timeline. A successful software engineer will be able to prioritize, triage, and manage all ofthe various milestones of all the various projects on their plate at a given time. Along with managing timelines, a software engineer will need to be able to thrive in an environment where deadlines occur regularly. Youll have to manage other peoples priorities and balance them with your own, along with the needs of your other clients or projects. OrganizationPrioritizationDeadlinesManaging Expectations Teamwork Building software systems is generally a solitary endeavor, but a software engineer must still be able to communicate regularly with other people and teams. As an engineer, you should be able to articulate project needs, as well as be able to discuss any challenges or problems that arise. Software engineers will routinely work with a number of other teams and departments at once, while also managing a team of their own. You may be required to work with people whose ideas and philosophies you dont agree with. Other times, misunderstandings arise and can threaten you and your teams deadline. A successful engineer should be comfortable working closely with others, compromising and innovating as needed. CollaborationCompromisingActive ListeningConflict ResolutionOral CommunicationWritten Communication Attention to Detail There are certain practices and standards in the industry that a successful software engineer must master. These include the basics, like utilizing version control systems so that you dont lose old work, or employing a robust and thorough testing protocol. They also include more complex details such as analyzing and maintaining older code, or developing strategic methodologies upon which you build a coding framework. Analytical SkillsTroubleshootingTechnical DocumentationFormulasData AnalyticsCreativityCritical Thinking Computer Coding Languages Many software engineers are fluent in one (or two) coding languages, and this becomes their primary area of expertise. While this is typical, the best engineers are familiar with all of the relevant coding languages on a basic level. An employer may not expect you to be fluent in all the coding languages of the day, but you will be more attractive to an employer if youre able to learn languages with analogous qualities (structured versus functional, for example), or by knowing a bit aboutdifferent types of languages. JavaScriptSQLJavaRubyPHPPythonCCCHTMLCSS More Software Engineer Skills Database ArchitectureProduct EnhancementProblem Solving SkillsLinux/UnixPerlShellOptimizationStrategic PlanningDesign ReviewsAgile Scrum TeamComputer ArchitectureOperating SystemsData StructuresStress ToleranceSaaSWeb ServicesSource CodeVersion RepositoryUI Toolkits and FrameworksMicrosoft ASP.NET MVCWeb APINode.jsDeductive ReasoningInductive ReasoningProcess AnalysisProject Management How to Make Your Skills Stand Out Add Relevant Skills to Your Resume Use the skills mentioned here to help you in your job search. You can put them to use in yourresume, especially in the descriptions of your work history.Highlight Skills in Your Cover Letter You can also use themin your cover letterto describe prior work experience. As an engineer, having aletter of recommendationfrom an instructor or previous employer is also a good idea.Use Skill Words in Your Job Interv iew In yourpreparation tointerview, consider mentioning a few of these traits in order to give examples of how youve demonstrated them in prior work.

Friday, November 22, 2019

6 awkward emails you shouldnt be sending to anyone

6 awkward schmelzglass you shouldnt be sending to anyone6 awkward schmelzglass you shouldnt be sending to anyoneYou should always seriously consider what youre writing, why, when and to whom youre addressing your emails. Its part of your responsibility as a professional to be, well,professional- and that requires some degree of self-monitoring.Regardless of to whom your writing, however, there are just some things better left unsaid - and, perhaps more so, better left unwritten. After all, you may not be the only person monitoring your emails. As a working professional, you never want an email thread to haunt you in your career. And because emails are traceable and, often tracked by your employer, its important to be thoughtful in crafting them.Here are six emails you just shouldnt send to anyone at work or from your work email, really, ever. Save yourself from the awkward cleanup in the aftermath.1. The trash talk emailSure, its inevitable that youre not going to be the best of bu ds with every colleague you ever have over the course of your career. But keep those thoughts to yourself (unless your working relationship is seriously a cause for concern, in which case, take it up with that colleague and/ormenschenfreundlich resources). You dont need to be friends with everyone in your office you do, however, need to know how to have a professional working relationship with them that allows you both to do yourjobsefficiently.You never want to trash talk anyone in the office because you never know who your words might get back to - thats why you especially dont want to have those words in writing with your name branded on them. Besides, trash talking is incredibly unprofessional and can hurt the morale of the team. And you can spend your time much more wisely at work by, well, doing your job.2. The gossip emailSimilar to the trash talk email, the gossip email is never one to which you want your name attached. Gossiping in the office is unprofessional and can not only hurt your own career, but it can also hurt someone elses career if youre spreading false information about a colleague or babo. Leave your two cents on your colleagues or boss out of your emails (and, really, out of your mouth - at least while at work), and focus on the work you have at hand.If theres gossip in the office thats making you uncomfortable, instead of jumping on the bandwagon, address it at its source and take it up with human resources if necessary.3. The job hunt emailSo youre on the hunt for anew joband plan on quitting your current one. Cool - thats not uncommon. In fact, you probably have a colleague or two or three or a whole bunch secretly doing the same. But secretly is key. Dont go emailing your colleagues about how your job hunt is going, especially if you work directly with them and your quitting will affect their work. You dont want your job hunt status to get to your boss before you even land a new job, and theres a chance that your boss is monitorin g your emails even if your colleagues really do keep your secret safe with them.In short, dont spill the fact that youre quitting for a new job until youve actually accepted an offer at a new job and really are indeed quitting.4. The premature emailWeve all accidentally sent emails prematurely, but if you take even a few extra seconds to reread your emails before sending them, you can avoid sending emails with typos, incomplete messages, to the wrong recipients, to unnecessary recipients or other mistakes. You dont want to have to send a chain of emails to correct your mistakes, to add forgotten attachments or even to respond to parts of an incoming email you forgot to address.Do your best to read all of your emails in their entirety, and read your responses in their entirety, too, so you make sure that what youre sending back is comprehensive, complete, fact- and spell-checked and being sent to the correct and necessary recipients.5. The irrelevant emailYou should never send emails to people who dont need your emails because were all already drowning enough. An average office worker receives 121 emails a day do each other a favor a cut out the unnecessary CCs.For example, if youresending an emailto your human resources team with the W-9 of your new employee, you dont need to CC five other team members involved in the hiring on the thread, just because they were involved. If they dont need to see the W-9, they dont need to see the email. If youre sending your colleague in IT a question about a website glitch, you dont need to CC your boss who doesnt need to know about (and cannot fix) the glitch - you just need IT to fix it. If the project doesnt pertain to them (and, especially, if theyre in a higher position of authority with more important matters to deal with), its not necessary - and its frankly frustrating for them - to clutter their inbox.6. The too-personal emailLeave your personal problems, relationships, drama, weekend stories out of your emails. Whether youre explaining why youll be in late or just catching up with a colleague based in another city (or even just across the office), you dont need to overshare on your work email. While you shouldnt be bringing personal matters into the professional space anyway, you especially dont want to be putting those personal matters in writing where they could come back to bite you or be considered distracting or unprofessional.If youre really close with a coworker, its inevitable that youll share personal information leave it for lunchtime conversations, happy hours or out-of-the-office get-togethers. Your boss, IT or someone else might be reading all about your date night or divorce or girls night out, too.AnnaMarie Houlis is a feminist, a freelance journalist and an adventure aficionado with an affinity for impulsive solotravel. She spends her days writing about womens empowerment from around the world. You can follow her work on her blog,HerReport.org, and follow her journeys on In stagram her_report,Twitterherreport, andFacebook.A version of this post previously appeared onFairygodboss, the largest career community that helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

4 things successful women do in every meeting

4 things successful women do in every meeting4 things successful women do in every meetingWhat feeling does the word meeting inspire in you? Maybe an annoyed eye roll or feelings of anxiety. Meetings are a necessary evil in the workplace, but lets flip the script a little bit and use meetings an opportunity to show your coworkers and your babo that youre ready to get stuff done like the boss babe you are.Here are four things that successful women do in every meeting.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraThey come preparedOne of the worst feelings in the world is hearing your boss say, Where are we on this project? and you have no idea what shes talking about because youre behind on your emails. Coming prepared is crucial to a productive (and hopefully quick) meeting. If its a weekly meeting that you dont need to prepare anything for, just take a quick skim 15 minutes before your meeti ng to make sure youre setting yourself up for success.They engage in active listeningMeetings can easily tempt you to zone out and justchillwhile someone else is talking - resist the urge Practice active listening by sitting up straight or taking notes to keep you from taking an open-eye cat nap, and remember to thank us when you get your next raise.They check their body languageBody language makes up ahuge majority of human communication, so successful women know how to use it to their advantage in a meeting. The next time you have to present a pitch in a meeting, practice your power posing for a better chance of getting your bosss full support.They summarize the meetingAt the end of every meeting, its always a good idea to give a quick executive summary of what everyones next steps are. Just a quick, Great, so Jason will follow up with the vendor, Emily will connect with the client, and Ill submit the paperwork reminds everyone of their tasks and ends the meeting on a positive no te.This article originally appeared on The Everygirl.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people