Interpersonal and personal abilities, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, and adaptability, that help people work well with others.
Technical skills describe what someone can do with specific tools and methods. Soft skills, sometimes called human or power skills, describe how they work: explaining ideas clearly, listening, collaborating, managing time, handling feedback, making decisions with incomplete information, and adapting to change. In technology roles, these abilities often decide how much impact technical expertise has.
For example, a developer who can explain a technical trade-off to a non-technical manager, or a security analyst who writes a clear incident summary, adds value beyond their technical work. As AI tools handle more routine tasks, employers increasingly emphasize problem framing, critical thinking, and judgment. Soft skills can be developed deliberately through practice, mentoring, presenting work, writing documentation, and asking for feedback, much like technical skills.
An intensive, short-term training program that teaches practical programming or tech skills, typically over a few weeks to several months.
HackathonA time-limited event, often lasting a day or a weekend, where people collaborate intensively to build software or hardware prototypes.
UpskillingLearning new skills or deepening existing ones to stay effective in a current role or prepare for changing job demands.
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