Vasily Zubarev, a programmer who moved from Novosibirsk to Berlin, highlights a gap in awareness among younger IT workers when it comes to soft skills. Drawing from his own experiences and conversations with colleagues in various settings, he reflects on how these often overlooked abilities influence everyday work. He argues that many developers obsess over technical mastery while missing a broader set of people-centric capabilities that keep teams moving forward. This perspective is shaped by his personal journey and by conversations with peers across different work environments.
He offers a clear definition to anchor the discussion: soft skills are everything that falls outside hard technical competencies yet remains essential for productive work. In his framing, soft skills are the actions and attitudes that keep workflows smooth and project momentum steady, even when technical challenges arise. This practical view helps many avoid treating soft skills as vague goodwill and instead see them as concrete, observable behaviors that contribute to tangible outcomes. [Attribution: Zubarev quote]
According to Zubarev, social skills empower people to adapt to changing work environments. They include the ability to communicate clearly, collaborate across teams, and respond to evolving project needs. He adds that leadership and project management practices increasingly draw on established guidelines from broader, high-stakes contexts, including the approaches used by the US Army. This influence underscores how disciplined thinking and structured communication can improve effectiveness in IT projects as well. [Attribution: Zubarev quote]
To help distinguish essential social skills from optional ones, he suggests asking three questions. Is this behavior performed during regular working hours? Does it overlap with a hard skill I already possess? If I stop doing it, would the team’s output be seriously slowed down? Answering yes to all three questions signals a genuine, necessary social skill rather than a superficial trait. [Attribution: Zubarev quote]
Zubarev emphasizes that the social requirements of IT work can vary from team to team. In his experience, two teams stood out as examples of how different social expectations can be. Some environments demand highly specialized, team-specific behaviors that would not translate well elsewhere. In those settings, certain soft skills become critical and, if misapplied, can hinder rather than help progress. He cautions against generic concepts like mere stress resistance or broad sociability, arguing that true effectiveness comes from tailored, context-aware interpersonal abilities. [Attribution: Zubarev quote]
Recent industry observations support the idea that entry requirements for IT roles have shifted. In 2023, more companies expanded their lists of expectations for candidates, a change that many workers in the field believe has raised the entry bar. A notable portion of IT professionals—around a third—expresses confidence that the overall demand for skills and behaviors has increased, reflecting a broader move toward more comprehensive candidate profiles. [Attribution: industry report]