CSE 403: Software Engineering, Autumn 2013

Soft skills and the STAR model

Employers look for soft skills as well as technical skills. Be sure to showcase those in your resume with the STAR model (situation, task, action, result).

Top Soft Skills List

• strong work ethic
• positive attitude
• good communication skills
• time management abilities
• problem-solving skills
• acting as a team player
• self-confidence
• ability to accept and learn from criticism
• flexibility/adaptability
• working well under pressure
• creative thinking
• ability to prioritize work
• critical observation (analytical skills)
• conflict resolution

Soft Skills Links

• AOL Jobs
• Jobsearch
• Business Week
• Money
• Monster
• Open Forum

Guest speaker Darin Blanchard (UW CSE IT)

• Background: 15+ years experience in telecomm industry
• Software lifecycle on the job (requirements, analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, maintenance); focused on 2 parts
• Requirements: Critical to define accurate requirements, especially with 3rd party vendors.
• Maintenance: The main thing that will differ from designing software in school. You will have to maintain your product, which is why you should design it with maintenance in mind.
• Important soft skills
• Self-confidence: Be able to talk confidently about your skills and abilities.
• Ability to address a non-technical audience is key. Managers are often not technically savvy or have been out of practice in a rapidly changing industry. The better you can massage your message the easier it will be to get your point across.
• Learning from criticism: Programmers can be harsh at times and will staunchly defend their views and/or be critical of others. Develop a thick skin.
• Ability to prioritize work.
• STAR model for interviews

Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) Links

• STAR model definition (wikipedia)
• Using STAR in interviews (lifehacker)
• STAR model