What qualities does a programmer need? We answer! Profession programmer Profession programmer quality

Only technical requirements for candidates are constantly indicated, but it often remains unclear whether any additional qualities are required and which ones are even necessary. Let's figure it out!

It would seem that to write code, you don’t need any personality traits - just being a technically trained specialist is enough. But without certain qualities, you will not be able to both develop and exist in a team, in a company.

Therefore, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the personality traits of a programmer that will help you develop yourself and feel at ease in the workplace.

Logical thinking.

Programming without logic is hardly possible, but not everyone is equally good at finding solutions to complex problems. Therefore, you need to constantly maintain your analytical thinking. For example, play logic games, solve logic puzzles, tests, crosswords.

Attentiveness and ability to focus.

Since a programmer is constantly looking at the monitor while working with code, he cannot do without attentiveness and the ability to concentrate. You must be able to maintain attention on one task for a long time, not be distracted by extraneous conversations, notifications and letters, as well as thoughts and experiences in your head, while doing your work. Of course, you need to remember to take breaks, but maintaining your attention for a couple of hours will be very useful.

We mistakenly think that we need time in the morning to get ready for work. In fact, in the morning your body is in good shape, rested and ready to solve the most difficult tasks. Therefore, put off your news feed, check your email (if it can be postponed) until the afternoon, and tackle the most difficult tasks. Your level of concentration will be the highest, you will be surprised how pleasant and easy it is to work in the morning.

Perseverance.

The job of a programmer is sedentary work. It is logical that perseverance in one place will be useful to you if you want to stay in this area. Working hard over a long period of time can lead to success quite quickly.

Curiosity.

We mean professional curiosity, and not the desire to know “who invented air conditioning?” The curiosity you need is the desire to know more when you realize that your knowledge is limited to a certain technology, language, and so on.

Responsibility.

A developer's job involves a lot of responsibility for the code he creates. Responsibility, first of all, is to yourself, and then to the client, the customer.

The desire for self-improvement.

The desire to develop, to be better every day than yesterday and to go only upward is an atypical trait of programmers. But if you have it, you can be sure what will be yours. This quality of a programmer’s personality leads him along his entire career path, leading him to managerial positions or making him a first-class specialist in his technology. Don't forget to constantly study, explore the latest frameworks and communicate with colleagues.

Imagination.

If they tell you that programming is not a creative profession, then they have never written code. A good imagination, coupled with other qualities of a programmer, will allow you to find non-trivial solutions and simplify the code so much that others will simply wonder how the developer could have thought of this. On the other hand, imagination is a great way to mentally visualize code. When a programmer creates code, he must understand what he is doing in real life.

Communication skills.

Nowadays, most developers work in a team in one way or another. Therefore, if you learn to communicate effectively, not be afraid to ask for help or ask a colleague for their opinion, your business will go uphill. Communication skills are soft skills, the possession of which will help you become an integral part of the team.

Communication skills can be understood as the ability to write code that any developer can understand. Communication between developers often occurs through code. If the computer understands you even with “dirty” writing, then a person may not only not understand what you wanted to do here, but also not know how to correct the error in such code.

Persistence.

Perseverance is a personal quality that allows you to pursue long-term goals and not deviate from them. Perseverance will also come in handy when defending your solution to a problem or introducing a new feature. Often, this quality allows you to save time and resources on a project.

We are sure that you can add to this list of programmer personality traits, especially if you have experience in IT. Of course, some personal qualities come forward, relegating others to the background, depending on the specialty in IT-sphere. So, a business analyst will need the ability to communicate with people much more than an ordinary developer. Just like a developer needs perseverance more than. But we know for sure that if you can develop at least 50% of these qualities in yourself, you will pass interviews more successfully and do your work better, solve problems easier and find the right solutions faster.

The work of such a specialist is a combination of purely technical actions with different programming languages and creative work to optimize the functionality of the final software product. A specialist is engaged in designing, creating a program algorithm, writing its code, and testing it for functionality.

Required professional skills and knowledge

All of the above can be learned. Yes, you need to constantly develop, but basic coding skills can be developed to perfection in just a few years of study in a well-designed educational program.

Another question is what you need to know to become a programmer. Here it is impossible to grow into a professional in 2–5 years if you approach specialized education with a minimum set of school knowledge. Wanting to get ahead of your rivals and gain an advantage from the start of your career, every (future) programmer should begin mastering the profession with an excellent base:

in mathematics (here – logic, probability theory);
physics;
computer science;
English, Russian.

What should a programmer know to work in the future (career, salary, reputation)? You need a deep understanding of the architecture of the software environment where you will work, the principles of coding, and knowledge of the simplest methods of creating programs.

You need to know a lot: programming standards, the concept of task design, resource testing methodology. The deeper a student dives into the basics of mathematics (analysis, graphs), the stronger his position, the wider the arsenal of tools used.

Additional skills that make you competitive in the labor market

What skills will help you quickly conquer the prestigious job market?

The ability to work in a team for an IT specialist is 50% of the success of his development in any field (different network architectures, programming languages).
Perseverance, perseverance, inability to give up.
An analytical mindset + critical thinking will allow you to brush aside a priori impossible tasks. The ability to save the customer’s time is the most important advantage of a professional.
An algorithmic approach (systematic character) will help you achieve success faster.
The peculiarity of the profession - working in conditional isolation from society - determines some of the programmer's habits, which in the future may reduce his effectiveness. Therefore, positive communication skills and the ability to present your ideas, the habit of keeping abreast of popular algorithms and services are also useful skills.

What a beginner should know

The work of a programmer is a non-stop evolution of knowledge. The theoretical and practical platform is formed during training, but the process of formation does not end there - various knowledge must be updated with deepening into narrow areas. But does this mean that it is impossible to start with a minimum set of knowledge and skills? For a beginner, a good resume is enough:

skills in writing programs in 2-3 popular languages (Python, JavaScript, HTML are considered optimal for a beginner);
knowledge and understanding of algorithms, databases, programming patterns;
studying frameworks (software environment for different operating platforms - Windows, iOS).

Everyone needs English and an understanding of the principles of logic. Much determines the chosen direction of work. It is important for a web programmer to be able to write programs and understand the architecture of different platforms. System programmers need to master the OS API.

Required knowledge for admission

What do you need to get a high education in programming? To be enrolled in a Synergy college or university, completing courses or working with tutors is not required. Good grades in mathematics, physics, and computer science are required. Knowledge of English is very valuable.

Technical skills are fundamentally important for any IT specialist. In fact, they represent the core of knowledge that an IT specialist needs to be an IT specialist. However, if a person wants to become truly successful in his profession, he needs other qualities. We are talking about skills that will help a specialist interact successfully with people. Here are 10 such qualities that an IT specialist needs.

Ability to communicate

An IT specialist is forced to send a huge number of emails, coordinate projects and technical specifications. Therefore, even the most talented programmer must be simply literate. Verbal communication is also important. A very valuable skill for an IT specialist is the ability to explain complex things in simple language to those who do not understand them.

Listening skills

An IT specialist should not only talk about his ideas and thoughts, but also listen to the ideas and thoughts of others. By listening carefully to what your client or boss wants, you can figure out how to make it happen. And don't hesitate to ask clarifying questions.

Teamwork

Very often, IT projects are implemented by a team of professionals, rather than by one person. Therefore, it is very important for an IT specialist to learn to work in a team. As mentioned above, he must be able to express his thoughts and ideas to colleagues, as well as be able to listen and accept other people's points of view.

Leadership

Even if you are not formally a manager, in your work you will probably encounter situations where you will be required to manage a project for some time. Leadership skills require strong communication skills, the ability to delegate, and an understanding of the end goal.

Mentoring

IT professionals often find themselves in the role of teachers, instructing new employees or clients. An employer will always value an employee who can patiently and effectively train others.

Flexibility

IT professionals sometimes face unexpected challenges or unforeseen changes. This could be some completely new problem or a last-minute change of task on the part of the customer. An IT professional must be flexible to quickly cope with such changes and find creative ways to solve unusual problems.

Creativity

IT professionals are constantly working toward the future, anticipating and developing solutions to potential technical problems and needs. This proactive thinking requires strong imagination and creativity. Employers are looking for people who can approach work creatively.

Negotiation skills

Regardless of the specific specification, negotiation skills will be useful for anyone involved in the IT sector. It can serve in a variety of situations, from hiring people for a project to finding investors or selling a startup. Also, the ability to come to mutually beneficial agreements is a skill that is very important for building a career.

Ability to make presentations

Whether it's a one-on-one demonstration or speaking in front of a large audience, the ability to present your work is a very useful skill for an IT professional.

Determination

Many IT projects die due to lack of funding, problems with clients, and poor teamwork. For a project to live, the people who work in it must be focused on the end result and understand what they intend to achieve in the end. An employer will always value an interested and purposeful IT specialist who does not leave a project if temporary problems arise, but stays with it from start to victory.

Businessmen often have to face the problem of recruiting talented and experienced programmers on a limited budget. Silicon Valley entrepreneur John Rampton faced this problem personally - he assembled a team to launch his new project over the course of several months. Even though Rampton lives in the mecca of the modern tech world, he has had a hard time convincing people to leave big companies with big salaries and go work on new projects. In the process of hiring employees, John identified a dozen qualities that characterize a good programmer and mean that he will almost certainly suit the company.

1. Strong technical skills

A big mistake HR professionals make is that they hire people based on a list of requirements. Instead of looking for someone with three years of experience programming in C++ and a year in Java, they look at the entire list of things they can do. But in fact, if a programmer learned the language he needed for his job just a year ago, but before that he had been programming in another language for many years, then he is an ideal candidate for this position because of his good background in other areas.

An example of an interview question: “Describe your experience developing in other programming languages.”

2. Readiness to learn

Technology is constantly evolving and today's programming skills and abilities will become obsolete within a few years. It is important to find a programmer who is interested in observing the latest trends and constantly educates himself.

Sample interview question: “What do you do to keep your skills relevant?”

3. Debugging skills

Creating code is only part of a programmer's job. When software doesn't work as expected, the programmer must get to the root of the problem quickly and efficiently. Instead of blindly spending hours making changes to the code, find a programmer who will study the code and look for the source of the problems until the answer is found.

Example interview question: “How do you deal with bugs in your code?” (+you can give the programmer a test task to debug the code).

4. Ability to work in any environment

Some programmers require complete silence to concentrate, while others work well in chaos and confusion. An employee's personal preferences are an important part of their productivity, so it's best to have a clear understanding of your office environment to avoid problems once a person is hired.

An example of an interview question: “Describe your ideal work environment.”

5. Ability to solve emerging problems

Those who have never tried to create an application from scratch may compare programming to solving an extremely complex mathematical equation. A good programmer will always look for ways to complete a given task, no matter what. Otherwise, you will hear the phrase “It's impossible” every time you propose a new project.

An example of an interview question: “How would you do (offer to solve some completely impossible problem applicable to your organization)?”

6. Passion for work

Many developers are inclined to just do their job from nine to five, but recruiters are usually looking for people who are happy to spend several hours at a time solving some interesting problem that needs to be solved. You can often find such employees if you ask them about their hobbies and other interests during the interview process. Real programmers are geeks who, in their free time, play games, build servers, or create applications for friends. This is not the most important trait of a good programmer, but often it is thanks to it that you can find truly worthwhile employees.

An example of an interview question: “What are your hobbies?”

7. Stress resistance

Programming can be an extremely stressful profession. When you have tight deadlines and nothing is working, it's easy to lose your mind and start going crazy. The ideal programmer can handle the most difficult stressful situations, and most importantly, will be able to continue working.

Sample interview question: “Describe a situation when you were under extreme pressure and your application didn’t work. What did you do then?

8. Communication skills with “ordinary people”

Typically, programmers are not required to be able to communicate with clients - for the most part, they sit at a computer all day and communicate online. However, programmers regularly interact with managers, employees, and clients, so the ability to communicate well with others is a must. This is especially true if your programmers are sometimes asked to sit in on meetings with clients and explain how the system works.

Example of an interview question: “Explain how your favorite app works in a way that the average person can understand.”

9. Laziness

Larry Wall, author of the book Perl Programming Languages, believes that the three main skills of a good programmer are laziness, impatience and pride. Laziness may sound like a bad trait for any employee, but IT managers say that if you want to find the best way to do something, ask a lazy person how. Most likely, this person will find the fastest and most effective way. Developers often find ways to automate processes, which saves companies time and money.

An example of an interview question: “Tell me how you save your time by automating processes.”

10. Understanding business processes

If you only focus on building software, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. The ideal programmer must understand how a business works and go beyond creating applications. A business-oriented programmer can come up with ideas for new applications that will subsequently improve performance.

An example of an interview question: “Have you ever participated in improving the company’s business processes?”

11. Ability to plan

Instead of trying to tackle every task, the programmer should first learn as much as possible about what the final product will be. After completing the analysis, the programmer should be able to design the structure of the program before entering the first line of code.

Sample interview question: “How do you start working on a new design? What's the first thing you do?

12. Ability to overcome failures

Programmers very rarely succeed in doing something on the first try. For the most part, they encounter difficulties in solving problems at the very beginning. It is important to choose a team that will see mistakes and shortcomings primarily as a challenge, and not as a sign of defeat. They must be patient and able to start over even after hours of work.

An example of an interview question: “Have you ever spent hours studying code and finding a bug?”

13. Ability to work in a team

A programmer rarely works alone, even if he is the only developer in the company. The ability to work with other programmers, business users, marketing and sales is very important to him.

Example of an interview question: “Tell me about your experience in teamwork.”

14. Willingness to explore

The programming language is only part of the picture. To create a program for their employees or clients, a good developer must know in detail how specific industries work.

Example of an interview question: “Give me an example of a time when you had to delve into the details of a particular business? How did you solve this problem?

15. Meeting deadlines

Most programmers work on projects with deadlines. It is clear that managers must set reasonable deadlines for developing and debugging applications, but programmers themselves must respect deadlines. It is important to determine that the candidate will do everything possible to “fit” into the assigned deadlines.

An example of an interview question: “Tell me how you work under constant deadlines.”

Finding a good programmer is not easy, especially if your programming knowledge is limited. In such cases, you can invite someone from your team who understands this topic to participate in the interview. They will help you formulate questions that you might not be able to ask on your own.

If you have all these qualities, then you can also familiarize yourself with the holders who were in greatest demand among employers in 2014, according to Linkedin.

It might be useful to read: