In the last few years it seems like more and more job postings for engineers are including requirements for better than average communication or interpersonal skills. Back when I was an undergraduate student, engineering was a good career choice for nerds. Apparently, no longer. Looking at Craigslist - boston software/QA/DBA/etc jobs classifieds for Wed Feb 02, 2011, 19 out of 33 postings require good communication or interpersonal skills. Several of the postings by third-party recruiters didn't have the full job description and might also require those skills. So today's Asperger-syndrome-software-job-index is 42% or less; only 42% of the job postings don't mention communication or interpersonal skills.
| Software Development Engineer - (UMass, Boston Campus) | |
| Research Programmer - (Cambridge) | Strong organizational and communication skills and the ability to work with others. |
| SQL Database Administrator - (Cranston, RI) | Good written and oral communication skills. Good interpersonal skills. Ability to present ideas in user-friendly language. |
| Software Engineer (Java) - (Downtown Boston) | Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Be able to clearly communicate at both high and basic technical levels. |
| Data/Analytics Engineer - (Boston) | |
| Developer in Testing - (Boston, MA) | High energy level & excellent people/team member skills Good communication ability |
| Director of Systems Operations - (Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA) | Excellent customer service attitude, communication skills (written and verbal), and interpersonal skills. |
| QA Engineer - Java - (Greater Boston) | |
| QA Engineer - (Waltham) | |
| Microsoft Tech. Solutions Prof. - (Virtual) | Excellent written and oral communication skills |
| Entry-level Tech Support - $60k - (Waltham, MA) | Excellent communication skills |
| Software Engineer – .NET Development Contractor - (Cambridge, MA) | Good written and oral communication skills |
| Sr. Software Engineer - Flex/Flash - (Rte. 495 South) | |
| .NET Application Engineer – C# - CSS - SQL - (Boston, MA) | |
| Want to get into the HealthCare field?? VB.NET position open! - (Braintree, MA) | |
| Sr. Software Engineer - (Rt. 128 West) | |
| Junior Java Developer - (Downtown Boston) | Good verbal and written communication skills |
| iOS Developer - (Providence Rhode Island) | |
| Are you Mark Zuckerberg without the idea? - | |
| Hardware Quality Assurance Engineer - (North Reading) | Strong communication skills and cross-functional leadership |
| Contract Software Developer - (Boston) img | Strong communication and collaboration skills. |
| Document Prod Coord. - (Wellesley) | |
| Mid-Level Software Developer - (Boston) img | Strong communication and collaboration skills. Strong communication and collaboration skills.[sic] |
| Release Engineering Manager - (Boston) img | Strong communication and collaboration skills. |
| Information Management Software Developer - (Cambridge, MA) | Should have problem solving and research skills along with excellent written and verbal communication skills. |
| Senior LAMP Developer - (Lexington) | Excellent communication skills |
| Mid-Level LAMP Developer - (Lexington) | Good communication skills |
my rant: you have a good point here. Sometimes I read at those job ads and I sort of s**t in my pants: I know a lot of engineering but I'm a terrible communicator. Should I join the dole directly? Should I spend all my life with medicaments for social phobia because those who communicate and often do not know cannot stand good engineers?
ReplyDeletePierpaolo
The real question is, do the jobs *actually* require those skills - or are they included for some sort of elitist purpose, or to please the NT manager who wants to think he can control his/her subservient's effectively.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to expand a software company by hiring people like me (autistic people preferably) and I hear there are tons of people like that "out there" and can't find normal jobs, but so far no luck finding them. Do you think they exist in great numbers?
ReplyDeleteIn New England, the Asperger's Association
ReplyDeleteof New England is an organization good for finding AS people. Maybe there is a similar organization in your locale.