While scrolling through Twitter I saw a tweet thread by Vaidehi Joshi (lead software engineer at forem) on the topic of how the best engineers are "extremely skilled communicators."
It got me thinking...
the best engineers i've worked with are not ones who write "great" code (whatever that means!) but instead are the ones who are extremely skilled communicators.
— Vaidehi Joshi (@vaidehijoshi) March 23, 2021
It's not only about having knowledge and skills that are valuable, but being able to demonstrate those skills through effective communication within a company/team.
It all starts with "WHY?" and requires more than just understanding. The true test is being able to articulate that understanding where and when the rubber meets the road.
An engineer needs to be able to communicate in layman's terms with business people and the product owners (a derivative from principle 4 in the Agile Manifesto).
Being able to talk about the thought process behind the code as if others on the team have no project background is a superpower (must be developed through practice).
Humans are documenting thought processes by writing code, anyone can do that... but it takes skill to articulate those concepts, let alone someone else's thought process to someone else, Woah that's HARD!
A lot of time is dedicated to coding challenges and building projects, which are good and each has its respective place. But what about learning how to communicate on a technical level? This is a skill that requires much practice and dedication.
If one cannot communicate effectively on a project, the rabbit holes would be endless (or at least until the project dies).
Vaidehi makes a valid point here. As a high-level engineer, she cares more about how you communicate over how many side projects you have built or if you know how to use the latest framework. It makes me wonder if this could be the reason why many boot camp grads haven't landed a job yet?
