As the world gets more complex and technology advances, tech and engineering roles are also evolving. Increasingly, companies within the engineering and tech sectors are establishing cross-disciplinary teams to create innovative solutions. As a result, companies are placing a higher value on candidates who – in addition to the needed technical skills – have knowledge that can help bridge the gap between disciplines.
Skills such as leadership, conflict resolution, project management, business strategy, and data analysis are among those that employers are looking for in tech and engineering candidates. Developing and showcasing job skills other than hard technical ones can be a game changer for your career path. While any employer would be keen to hire a professional who brings a multitude of skills to the table, cross-disciplinary skills are especially valuable if you’re seeking a leadership role, consultancy, or position in an emerging field such as data-driven product management.
What Are Cross-Disciplinary Skills?
Traditionally, the work of tech and engineering professionals focussed on their hard technical skills, often grouping people with similar skills or knowledge onto a team (or into a “silo”). For example, a technology silo is composed of people who specialize in specific technology while a project silo limits team members to those working on one specific project. Each silo has limited communication and collaboration with other silos.
But as projects get more complex, it’s becoming more important to break down silos and develop cross-disciplinary teams who can come at problems from various perspectives and develop groundbreaking solutions.
Cross-disciplinary skills can consist of specific knowledge that helps bridge the gap between silos (e.g., an employee who has a background in both industrial design and mechanical engineering). Cross-disciplinary skills can also refer to soft skills that enable people to excel at communication and collaboration with diverse team members. Strong communication, teamwork, flexibility, adaptability, conflict resolution, and time management skills are all examples of soft skills that can benefit cross-disciplinary teams.
Why Are Cross-Disciplinary Skills Important?
As the world continues to shift, problems are becoming more complex and the traditional siloed approach to finding solutions is no longer as effective. In a piece at LinkedIn, Al-Emran Hossain gives a terrific example of a problem that requires a cross-disciplinary approach:
[T]he construction of resilient infrastructure in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh does not only require civil engineering expertise but also insights from environmental science, urban planning, and even socio-economic considerations. Such integration can lead to better outcomes, such as increased sustainability, cost-efficiency, and community acceptance.
As a result, engineering and tech professionals need to work on more diverse teams than ever before. The more relevant skills that each person can bring to the team – whether hard technical skills in a different discipline or soft skills – the easier it will be to collaborate effectively.
Professionals who hold cross-disciplinary skills are highly valued as versatile team members who can help drive collaboration and innovation.
Identifying Your Cross-Disciplinary Strengths
It might not be immediately obvious which cross-disciplinary skills you can bring to a team, especially if you’ve been focussing on your hard technical skills to land jobs. However, everyone has relevant soft skills that are valuable in cross-disciplinary environments.
Honest self-assessment is the best way to identify your cross-disciplinary strengths. You can also ask for feedback from managers, colleagues, and network connections. Think about situations where you applied skills unrelated to your technical expertise, such as leading a team, managing project budgets, or explaining technical information to clients or customers who have no technical knowledge. By identifying these types of skills, you can pinpoint what you have to offer to a team or a new employer – and what direction your career path can veer off toward.
If your skills and strengths make you a candidate for hybrid roles that combine technical and non-technical expertise, it can be helpful to benchmark your skills against the requirements of your desired roles. For example, if you have the skills needed to be a product manager, tech lead, or data strategist, look for job postings for those roles. Take note of the cross-disciplinary skills required for the role you’re interested in. If you lack any skills that are consistently mentioned in the job postings, then you know which skills to focus on for further development.
Building Cross-Disciplinary Expertise
Developing cross-disciplinary expertise may require additional training, education, hands-on experience, or practice. It depends on the skills you need to refine and the roles you’re hoping to land.
Training, Upskilling, And Professional Development
Seeking opportunities for training, upskilling, and professional development is one of the best ways to gain the skills and knowledge needed for cross-disciplinary roles. Many employers offer in-house learning opportunities for free or provide funding for external opportunities.
Taking courses to earn sought-after certifications is another way to gain new cross-disciplinary skills and demonstrate your capabilities to potential employers. Credentials like the Project Management Professional (PMP) or Six Sigma certification can give you an edge when applying for hybrid roles.
Formal Education
Some post-secondary graduate programs offer cross-disciplinary degrees that can be incredibly helpful when seeking new career opportunities. For example, a program for Environmental Engineering might pull in courses from different engineering departments (e.g., Biological, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Industrial, and Mineral Resources) as well as Environmental Studies and even Law. The knowledge gained through studying these various subjects can be valuable in bridging silos and building cross-disciplinary teams in the workplace.
Hands-On Experience And Practice
Some skills are best developed through hands-on experience and practice. Consider volunteering for cross-disciplinary projects at work. That way, you’ll gain experience working in a diverse environment where you’re exposed to different perspectives. It also gives you a chance to understand which skills you can bring to an existing cross-disciplinary team and which skills you need to work on.
Also, soft skills are usually best learned and developed through practice.
Showcasing Your Cross-Disciplinary Skills To Employers
It’s important to showcase your cross-disciplinary skills when applying for new roles. Make sure you optimize your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile, by using keywords to highlight those skills. On LinkedIn, use your summary and/or experience sections to provide details about cross-disciplinary projects that you’ve worked on. As recruiters and employers scan your resume and visit your LinkedIn profile, keywords related to cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation will catch their attention.
As well, use your personal brand as a way to share your cross-disciplinary expertise. As we explained in another blog piece:
[Your personal brand] is a combination of your internal beliefs and values, your skills, your experiences, and your personality. But you can actively build that brand, and it’s important to do so, to showcase certain strengths and ultimately shape how you’re perceived by others in your industry.
If you want to be perceived as someone who excels at cross-disciplinary projects, your personal brand is a terrific place to highlight your related expertise. Shape your brand around your cross-disciplinary goals by sharing posts, articles, and insights about cross-disciplinary projects and innovation. In this way, you’ll position yourself as a thought leader and reinforce your cross-disciplinary strengths to potential employers.
Finally, make sure you emphasize your cross-disciplinary skills in job interviews. Use specific examples that show how you used that expertise to bridge gaps between silos or successfully tackle projects that called for hybrid skills.
As technology and the way we work continues to evolve, it will become increasingly important to have strong cross-disciplinary skills. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to start developing, refining, and showcasing your cross-disciplinary skills to adapt to change and accelerate your career goals.
