"Jack of all trades and master of none but oftentimes better than a master of one", this is a very popular quote and often times it is written cut short to "Jack of all trades and master of none" to make it more negative than it originally was.

In this article I want us to talk about credibility and what I would like to call likeability in the success journey as a software engineer which can also be applied in any other career.

Let me ask a simple question, Q1 if someone asked you to create a team to develop a project and it will be made up of one designer, backend developer, frontend developer and the team lead. Create that team and go on to the second question Q2 why did you choose those people?

If you can clearly answer the traits of each person, that makes him/her a great candidate you have your answer to what makes one successful.

You might realize the technical team you created you based on their technical ability but that was different when you chose the Team lead. The technical team members are credible but the team lead you chose is likely to be both credible and likeable.

Let's get into meaning now:

Credibility is the quality one has that makes him believable or convincing in terms of what he is able to deliver. And Likeability is not far from that, where it is the trait of having qualities that bring about a favorable regard when requested.

Taking examples to understand this more if we say Peter is credible and Evans is likeable, what we mean is in terms of technical skills, expertise and how reliable Peter is, he scores high based on that criteria but for Evans we are saying that he : has interpersonal skills, is approachable, is collaborative, and is good at communicating which makes him a great team player but which means Evans is not necessarily reliable in terms of technical skills.

How can I become credible?

Credibility is built through work and delivery. To say Peter is credible is because he has projects we know he worked on, products being used by people, inventions he made, books he wrote or any thing else that proves he really has the skills.

So you have to be able to create something and let people know what you are capable of doing by joining communities mainly online and being an active member who doesn't only read other people's posts but also creates some him/herself.

How do I become likeable then?

Pretty simple, on top of the technical skills you have, you have to build skills like interacting with people, being able to present your ideas, public speaking skills, among other interpersonal skills you can find online.

To sum as an aspiring Software engineer you need to have influence and that is only achievable if you are creating things and also putting yourself out there and let the rest of the world know what you can do.

Thanks for reading, ideas on what I can talk about next are really appreciated.