Mapping job requirements of software engineers to Big Five Personality Traits

Abstract

Software engineering is a booming industry and is contributing to world economy in terms of providing employment and monetary benefits. Unfortunately, despite its importance, research in this field is still not mature. Studies so far done in this field have heavily focused on technical aspects rather than non-technical. In fact, software development is a human activity (performed by humans) which emphasizes the importance of research on non-technical (human or soft aspects) of software engineering. Recently there has been an increase on studies which are focusing more on the soft aspects of software engineering. This study also focuses on the human aspect of software engineering namely personality. Software engineers belong to various categories and their roles differ from each other based on their job requirements and skills needed to perform those jobs. This study mapped the hard and soft skills required by various software engineers and then linked them to personality traits using Big Five Personality Traits.