How to answer: What are your strengths question as a software developer

What Is Software Development?

The software development market is one of the fastest growing markets in 2022. Prior to this time, there was a notable scarcity of software engineers across the world. Today, the numbers are still lower than in other job groups.

There has been a significant increase in software engineers. There are specific and strategic skills employers look for to determine the best software developers. Employers are looking for detailed and precise responses when asking interview questions.

The Technology Industry's Growth

While this industry is changing rapidly and growing, it is still important to be prepared and strategic when looking to seek employment. Studies show the size of software market development is expected to experience a CAGR of 11.7% between 2022 and 2030.

It is obvious there is a desire for new talent and knowledge in this job market. If you are actively seeking employment in this sector, JobsHash can show you the appropriate way to answer the question "what are your strengths as a software engineer?" 

3 things to include in your "What Are Your Strengths" Answer

• Being detail-oriented: During the process of your interview, it is important to be as detail-oriented as possible. It is preferable to appear to be overlying a response to a question than to answer it briefly and vaguely. For example, you may have a specific skill set that is needed in this field. Provide the best answer and give skills as to why they need you, one of the best developers with this skill.

• Confidence: Knowledge concerning software development is important and needed. However, if you don’t show belief and confidence in what you are telling a recruiter, then how can you expect them to have confidence in what you are saying? It is imperative that you speak well enough to be able to communicate in proper English.

• Being Specific: It is important for you to be specific with what you are stating, meaning be clear and precise without a recruiter having to assume what you mean. You may assume some of these are obvious strengths, but it is still expected for you to communicate this. Use your words with the intention of meaning exactly what you are saying.

Strengths Every Software Developer Should Have in 2022

• Collaboration Skills: Software engineering is mostly seen as an isolated skill due to most people working on their own and being remote. However, it is still important to have the skills and ability to network and work as a team to connect with various groups and organizations.

• Good Communication Skills: It is imperative that you are able to communicate effectively. In cases where you misunderstand some things, you have to be able to properly communicate those things. The objective is to have the ability to clarify and explain well.

• A Software engineer must be able to solve problems. It is required to be able to critically analyze situations. One must evaluate an issue to form a relevant judgement.

• Self-Motivation: The ability to motivate and uplift yourself because there can be stressful times in this field. Due to problem-solving being the focus most of the time, it is not always easy.

• Curiosity: Most, if not all, good software developers have great and generous minds. Curiosity is important for a software engineer because it leads you to observe and investigate others and their decision-making. Curiosity brings forth new opportunities that may not have been thought of otherwise.

It is important to have the ability to learn. According to LinkedIn, engineers do more studying and learning than any other profession. Studies from LinkedIn also state that 48% of engineers have learned a new skill recently, as compared to 36% of other professions.

The IT industry is constantly changing fast, use critical thinking and be ready for change at all times. At any moment, your skill set can be considered outdated, and you must be ready to learn. There are a lot of companies that provide on-the-job training for their engineers.

An engineer must have great time management skills and be an expert at this. You must have the ability to analyze your tasks at hand and create goals for completion time. One must be able to prioritize assignments according to time because there will be times you may feel you have "too many" projects when you have more than one project.

Problem solving skills are daily tasks for a software developer, and it is important to be able to move on through the day without letting problems ruin your day. Being a great programmer means engineers will run into problems at times, but just know you will get through them.

Software development is rapidly changing, which means being knowledgeable in all areas of it is a much wiser decision as opposed to staying complacent as a random developer. Having full stack knowledge doesn’t mean you have to know all of the computer programming and new languages. You should have end-to-end knowledge. It is a good skill to have when a developer has the ability and key strengths to work on a program and problem solve in any phase. 

Why Do Companies Ask The "What Are Your Strengths" Question?

There is a great chance that you will encounter this question during a software engineering interview. This isn’t just a software industry question. Most organizations need to know your strengths and values before offering you a position, and you can provide them with strengths and examples.

Your answer to this question helps the recruiter make a well-thought-out and proper decision on whether you are a good fit or not. You may have had all the qualifications for a previous company. However, a new company may have different expectations.

Job interview, Good Software Engineer, work ethic

 Another reason an employer may ask this is to assess how well-coordinated and detailed your response is. It is of high importance for a recruiter to know if your experience, skillset, and qualities match the job description. Answering this question can be tricky sometimes because some employees don’t want to come off as arrogant and want to appear humble. This is actually not the case. 

Employers are interested and ready to know all of your key strengths, qualities, and skills. Now is the time to forget about modesty and show off those impressive skills to the hiring manager. This is not a test to see if you’ll be arrogant; this is a question to observe your skillset.

Business Acumen

It is not required to have an MBA in order to be a software engineer. However, you can’t be insensible to the business context. Knowing as much as you can absorb about software is a key skill and is required to be a good programmer. A good software engineer spends a significant amount of their career developing their business acumen by: 

• Having technical knowledge

• Providing concrete examples

• Understanding the end-user personas clearly

• Using New Tools

• Networking closely with business teams

• Studying usage and other performance metrics

Technical Skills Needed

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field which uses processes, algorithms, and scientific methods. Applying knowledge from data all over the range of domain applications. The purpose of a software framework is to simplify the software development environment. This allows engineers to dedicate their work to project requirements instead of dealing with the frameworks' repetitive systems.

Technical excellence entails staying current on software frameworks and paradigm shifts in the tech industry. It is important to be knowledgeable of the collaborative process as well. Technical knowledge is knowledge of software programming, mechanical equipment, tools, etc.

Blockchain Technology is a digital ledger of transactions which are duplicated and distributed through computer systems. Sample answer: Bitcoin uses blockchain technology. The Artificial Intelligence Field of Study is Intelligence demonstrated by machines.

Desire to Learn

When joining software engineering, it is important to make a commitment early on to enjoy learning and never stop learning. While it is imperative to practice leadership skills, it is equally important to have the ability to listen to others as well to learn various skills, because teamwork is vital so that growth is possible. 

It is also important to learn the significance of working with other teams in the field. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. For example, you may consider being extremely introverted a weakness. It is up to each individual to learn from both and make your weaknesses your greatest weakness and keep a positive attitude.

Conclusion

Learning the software development life cycle is the first step to take in order to enter this profession. Ensure that you gain massive knowledge and master it. Be prepared as much as possible and make it a goal to let a recruiter know if this is what you desire.

Make sure it is not too much responsibility for you. Becoming a good developer is not merely writing code but building products and providing value to a user’s needs. Becoming an excellent developer will put you in high demand in a short time.