LinkedIn engineering VP says technical skills alone 'don't cut it' for entry-level engineers

"technical skills don't cut it."

"You need to learn how to collaborate with different people, like a product manager, a UX designer, a marketer, to take your idea from concept to completion," Padmanabhan said."

""Equally important are your soft skills, like critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and teamwork," Padmanabhan said. "Like, how do you really think about user experience?""

"At the top of the list is large language model development and application - but the next three are soft skills: people management, agile problem solving, AI strategy."

Recent graduates often struggle to secure first full-time software engineering roles because of limited experience, small professional networks, and AI tools automating entry-level tasks. Technical skills remain essential, with growing demand for large language model development and cloud applications. Employers increasingly prioritize soft skills such as people management, agile problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and teamwork. Cross-functional collaboration with product managers, UX designers, and marketers is necessary to move ideas from concept to completion. Demonstrating applied learning through side projects helps candidates showcase competence and differentiate themselves in a crowded hiring market.

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