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Unicorns Are People, Too: Re-Thinking Soft and ...

Liz
August 22, 2014

Unicorns Are People, Too: Re-Thinking Soft and Hard Skills

As developers, we tend to value hard skills that can be quantified or measured objectively. Job postings search for unicorns, but we are people first and foremost and being human isn’t as easy as programming. While the code comes easily, the soft skills that make us human are complicated and difficult to get right. This talk will explore the danger of neglecting so-called “soft” skills, what we stand to lose by overvaluing technical skills, and alternatives to the hard and soft dichotomy.

Liz

August 22, 2014
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  1. SOFT VS. HARD WHAT ARE SOFT AND HARD SKILLS? Cheese

    by Consuelo Elo Graziola, Pillow by Yazmin Alanis, Hard Hat by André Renault, and Mountains by Cris Dobbins from The Noun Project
  2. MANY EMPLOYERS ACTIVELY SEEK OUT SOFT SKILLS IN PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES,

    MAKING THEM NEAR REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS IN THE WORKFORCE.
  3. SOFT ! HAVING A PLEASING QUALITY INVOLVING A SUBTLE EFFECT

    OR CONTRAST RATHER THAN SHARP DEFINITION
  4. “SOFT” IMPLIES THAT IT IS LESS IMPORTANT BY USING A

    WORD THAT ALSO MEANS THINGS LIKE “GENTLE”, “DIM”, AND “PLEASING.”
  5. I AM NOT A STUFFED ANIMAL. ! I AM NOT

    A CHEESE OR A FLUFFY PILLOW
  6. THESE SYNONYMS SOUND MORE LIKE A LIST OF PERSONALITY TRAITS

    FROM A DATING SERVICE THAN A LIST OF JOB REQUIREMENTS.
  7. OUR TOOLS ARE WRONG. ! THEY DON’T MEAN WHAT WE

    THINK THEY DO. WE ARE FORCED TO INFER MEANING. Tools by Jeremy J Bristol from The Noun Project
  8. WE CAN INFER ALL WE WANT, BUT ! OUR TOOLS

    ARE BROKEN. Broken Light Bulb by Gregory Sujkowski from The Noun Project
  9. A GOOD CODE REVIEW TAKES SOFT AND HARD SKILLS. !

    THEY REQUIRE TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW AND SUBJECTIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS.
  10. WE NEED TO MAKE NEW TOOLS. Broken Light Bulb by

    Gregory Sujkowski from The Noun Project
  11. BUT

  12. WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY BEST ON A TEAM? !

    DESCRIBE A GOOD CODE REVIEW. ! WHEN YOU PAIR, DO YOU PREFER TO DRIVE OR NAVIGATE?
  13. WHAT LEVEL OF FEEDBACK DO YOU EXPECT FROM YOUR MANAGER?

    YOUR PEERS? ! WHAT TYPE OF FEEDBACK IS MOST VALUABLE? ! HOW DO YOU LIKE TO WORK? ALONE? IN A PAIR?
  14. 1 COLLABORATIVELY CHANGE JOB DESCRIPTIONS WITH HELP FROM DIRECT REPORTS,

    UPPER MANAGEMENT, AND HR. Chameleon by Radu Luchian from The Noun Project
  15. 3 MAKE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW LEADERS ON SMALL PROJECTS AND

    FOR PAIR PROGRAMMING TO REINFORCE NEWLY LEARNED SKILLS.
  16. Bye ! Liz Abinante • @feministy • [email protected] This slide

    is tan at the request of my RailsGirls Summer of Code intern, who also picked out my outfit.