Many software engineers think they earn less money because of the low labour cost in their country. It is true that the labour cost is low in many countries, but the question is why?
One of the most common reasons behind it is lacking in communication. When you start talking in English some of your colleagues may praise you by saying, ‘your English is awesome’. But the reality is when you start talking to foreigners they nod politely as they do not understand your English. Knowing languages like Python and JavaScript are important, but learning to communicate efficiently in English is more important. If you can not communicate properly, your foreign clients will not count you. They start to think you are less professional. They can not distinguish you from other ten software engineers.
Many of us are proficient in English but not idiomatic. You should know how to speak idiomatically and make jokes in it. Understanding feelings is also important while communicating with others. Emotional intelligence plays a great role in it. It is the ability to recognize our own feelings and those of others for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships [1].
Some people start to describe unnecessary things when they do not understand the question well. There is no need to describe something that a smart person already knows. It makes them feel bored. Some questions definitely need descriptive answers but many questions need direct answers. If you are not capable of understanding the feelings of your client as well as the language, you have to suffer. Eventually, it will affect the pricing of the software you are going to make for them. They will discount you and move to the next question.
John Sung Kim, CEO of JetBridge suggested 10 rules of accurate communication-
Reference
[1] Suzanne Franchetti, Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Communication in the Workplace, <https://franchetti.com/emotional-intelligence-impact-communication-workplace/>