Beyond Technical Expertise: The True Reasons Why Software Developers Fail !

Jennifer with a geeky heart had always dreamed of being a software developer. From the time she was a young girl, she loved tinkering with code and figuring out how they worked. After years of hard work and dedication, she finally landed her dream job at a prestigious tech firm.

At first, everything seemed perfect. Jennifer was technically strong and driven, and she quickly gained the respect of her colleagues. But as time went on, she began to realize that technical expertise wasn't enough to guarantee success in the competitive world of software development.

Jennifer struggled with communication and collaboration, often getting frustrated with her team members and failing to clearly articulate her ideas. She also struggled with time management, frequently missing deadlines and causing delays in the project.

Despite her best efforts, Jennifer's shortcomings began to take a toll on her confidence and her work. She felt like a failure, and the stress and pressure of her job began to affect her personal life as well.

One day, after a particularly difficult meeting with her team, Jennifer found herself in tears. She realized that she needed to change something, but she wasn't sure what.

Over the next few weeks, Jennifer made a conscious effort to work on her communication and time management skills. She sought out feedback from her colleagues and took classes on effective communication and project management. She also made time for self-care, taking breaks when she needed them and finding ways to manage her stress.

Slowly but surely, Jennifer began to see improvements in her work and in her relationships with her colleagues. She learned that technical expertise was just one piece of the puzzle when it came to success in the tech industry. It was her ability to work well with others and manage her time effectively that ultimately made the difference.

In the end, Jennifer realized that failure wasn't the end of the road - it was an opportunity to learn and grow. And with her newfound skills and confidence, she knew that she could tackle any challenge that came her way.

Does this story resonate with your own present or the past?

Lau Adler - CEO, of Performance-based Hiring Learning Systems and a prolific author, was just talking to the director of engineering for a major consumer products company about new ways to improve the hiring decision for software developers. His first comment was profound and applicable to just about every technical role.?

Software developers don’t fail due to their lack of technical expertise. They fail because of everything else.?

Here’s some of the “everything else” but the most important:?

• Competent but unmotivated
• A problem with the hiring manager
• Doesn’t fit the culture?
• Weak team skills
• Weak soft skills including organization, planning and time management
• Everything else related to quality, reliability, productivity and work ethic

Everything Else is Just Too Important to Leave to Chance

There’s a reason job satisfaction hasn’t improved in the past 30 years.?According to Gallup and their Q12 work , only about a third of the workforce is fully engaged, which means for the other two-thirds the problem is with “everything else.”?

This “everything else” led to the great resignation and?#quietquitting .?

And “everything else” is the same reason that?67% of LinkedIn members are hoping to change jobs in 2023 .?

It turns out that most of the “everything else” is driven by the fit factors: job fit, managerial fit, team fit and cultural fit, and if you get these right most of your other hiring problems will disappear.?

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Lou Adler?is the CEO and founder of?Performance-based Hiring Learning Systems ?– a consulting and training firm helping recruiters and hiring managers around the world hire more outstanding and diverse leaders. Lou is the author of the Amazon top-10 best-seller,?Hire With Your Head ?(John Wiley & Sons, 4th Edition, 2021),?The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired ?(Workbench Media, 2013) and LinkedIn Learning’s?Performance-based Hiring ?video training program (2016). Make sure you check out his?Hire with Your Head ?Virtual Book Club ?for the latest hiring ideas and trends.

**This article is dedicated to Lou Adler.