Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual - book review

Several years ago, I was that kid who thought that the mainstream for Soft Skills in IT was totally weird. I believed it was all about communication with others, and introverts can't be effective in this field. Since then, I've learned the number one rule for effective communication with others: "Don't be an asshole," and life became a bit easier.

Moreover, it turned out that Soft Skills are not only about communication. There are also skills like time management, self-motivation, self-marketing, adaptability, critical thinking, learning, and more.

So, if you're interested in mastering these extremely valuable skills as I am, I highly recommend you to read John Sonmez's book "Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual." The author is a developer and a life coach, founder of Simple Programmer website, owner of two youtube channels (1,2). He is now selling out a lot of courses on related topics, but that shouldn't bother you. The book has minimum amount of water.

I think this is the most up-to-date book on Soft Skills for developers. It is divided into 7 sections: Career, Self-Marketing, Learning, Productivity, Fitness, Personal Finances and Spirit. You can read it from cover to cover, or pick only those topics you're interested in. For example, I've quickly sifted through the first chapter about career 'cause I've read a lot about it in other books, and attentively read next chapters about self-marketing and personal finances which were quiet useful.

The book is easy to read, and chapters are really small which allows quickly reading one of them while riding public transport. Moreover, it is full of practical examples, personal stories and assignments, so you could start "softly" upgrading yourself right away.

So, I'm 100% sure that it's worth reading for all software developers who understand that having great Hard Skills are not enough anymore for a successful career.

#books #career