Comprehensive career development, communication, and soft skills frameworks for software developers.
The soft-skills plugin helps developers with the skills that differentiate good engineers from great ones - career progression, clear communication, effective feedback, compelling presentations, and professional visibility. It combines proven frameworks (STAR method, SBI feedback, psychological safety research) with AI-assisted generation to help you advance your career and communicate with confidence.
/plugin install soft-skills@melodic-softwareOr via Claude Code plugins marketplace.
| Skill | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
career-strategy |
Career paths, goal setting, career maintenance, networking, level expectations, IC vs management | career goals, job change, strategy, levels, progression |
promotion-preparation |
Building promotion cases, brag documents, win tracking, self-advocacy, readiness assessment | promotion, brag doc, accomplishments, readiness |
resume-optimization |
Resume structure, achievement bullets, ATS optimization, job targeting | resume, CV, achievements, ATS |
| Skill | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
professional-communication |
Email, Slack, and meeting communication frameworks | email, slack, message, meeting, agenda |
stakeholder-communication |
Adapting communication for executives, PMs, customers | stakeholders, executive, cross-functional, adapt |
difficult-conversations |
Conflict resolution, performance discussions, preparation, challenging feedback | conflict, difficult, performance, feedback, prep |
feedback-conversations |
Giving and receiving feedback using SBI model, preparation | feedback, 1:1, performance, prepare |
technical-presentations |
Presentation structure, slide design, live demos | presentation, slides, talk, demo |
| Skill | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
team-effectiveness |
Psychological safety, diversity leverage, team dynamics | team, inclusion, psychological safety |
mentoring-developers |
Mentoring, 1:1s, pair programming, knowledge transfer | mentor, junior, pairing, onboarding |
code-review-communication |
Giving and receiving code review feedback effectively | code review, PR, nitpick, blocking |
| Skill | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
interview-skills |
Behavioral interviews, STAR method, salary negotiation, interview prep | interview, STAR, salary, negotiation, prep |
developer-visibility |
LinkedIn, GitHub, conference speaking, personal brand | linkedin, github, cfp, speaking |
ai-writing-assistant |
Using AI tools effectively for professional writing | chatgpt, copilot, draft, voice |
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
/soft-skills:promotion-preparation |
Generate structured promotion case, assess readiness, track accomplishments |
/soft-skills:track-win |
Document accomplishments in brag document format with categorization |
/soft-skills:resume-optimization |
Adapt resume content, craft achievement bullets, optimize for ATS |
/soft-skills:plan-career-goals |
Create structured career goals with timelines and actions |
/soft-skills:career-strategy |
Career progression guidance, level expectations, IC vs management paths |
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
/soft-skills:draft-email |
Generate professional emails with What-Why-How structure |
/soft-skills:feedback-conversations |
Structure feedback using the SBI model |
/soft-skills:difficult-conversations |
Prepare for challenging conversations with talking points |
/soft-skills:stakeholder-communication |
Transform technical content for non-technical audiences |
/soft-skills:structure-presentation |
Create presentation outlines |
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
/soft-skills:craft-linkedin-post |
Generate engaging LinkedIn posts |
/soft-skills:write-cfp |
Draft conference proposals |
/soft-skills:brand-statement |
Interactive personal brand discovery |
/soft-skills:interview-skills |
Structure interview stories using STAR method, interview prep |
/soft-skills:review-comment |
Generate constructive code review comments |
/soft-skills:write-1on1-agenda |
Create structured 1:1 meeting agendas |
| Agent | Description |
|---|---|
career-coach |
Career progression guidance, promotion readiness, strategic career decisions |
resume-coach |
Resume improvement, achievement rewriting, ATS optimization |
interview-coach |
Behavioral interview practice, story refinement, roleplay and feedback |
communication-coach |
Review drafts, calibrate tone, roleplay difficult conversations |
visibility-advisor |
Profile analysis, content strategy, speaking opportunities |
| Style | Description |
|---|---|
promotion-case |
Three-section promotion document (Accomplishments, Growth, Future) |
achievement-bullet |
Action Verb + Task + Quantifiable Result format |
career-goal |
Structured goal with timeline, actions, and success metrics |
difficult-conversation-prep |
Three-phase conversation preparation structure |
feedback-structure |
SBI-formatted feedback with preparation notes |
presentation-outline |
What-Why-How structured presentation outline |
code-review-comment |
Conventional Comments format for PR feedback |
star-story |
STAR method structure for interview stories |
# Build your promotion case
/soft-skills:promotion-preparation Senior to Staff Engineer, led 3 major migrations
# Track a win for your brag document
/soft-skills:track-win Reduced deploy time by 60% through CI/CD optimization
# Tailor resume for a job
/soft-skills:resume-optimization https://example.com/job-posting
# Plan career goals
/soft-skills:plan-career-goals Staff Engineer in 18 months
# Career progression guidance
/soft-skills:career-strategy promotion to Senior Engineer# Write a professional email
/soft-skills:draft-email Quick update to stakeholders about project delay
# Prepare for difficult feedback
/soft-skills:feedback-conversations Need to address repeated missed deadlines with team member
# Prepare for a challenging conversation
/soft-skills:difficult-conversations Performance discussion with underperforming team member
# Adapt technical content for executives
/soft-skills:stakeholder-communication Need to migrate to microservices for executive audience
# Create presentation outline
/soft-skills:structure-presentation 30-minute talk on migrating to microservices# Generate LinkedIn post
/soft-skills:craft-linkedin-post Lessons learned from our production incident last week
# Write conference proposal
/soft-skills:write-cfp How we reduced deploy time by 90%
# Discover your personal brand
/soft-skills:brand-statement
# Prepare interview stories
/soft-skills:interview-skills I led a migration to microservices that reduced deploy time by 60%
# Write code review comments
/soft-skills:review-comment Variable names are vague, makes the code hard to follow
# Create 1:1 agenda
/soft-skills:write-1on1-agenda Weekly check-in with my mentorLevel expectations from Junior to Staff:
- Junior: Deliver assigned tasks with guidance
- Mid-level: Own features end-to-end independently
- Senior: Lead projects, mentor others, drive technical decisions
- Staff: Cross-team influence, architecture, organizational impact
Three-section format for compelling promotion documents:
- Accomplishments & Impact: Quantified achievements with metrics
- Growth & Learning: Challenges overcome, skills developed
- Future Focus: Goals aligned to next level
Transform vague descriptions into impactful bullets:
Example: "Architected a microservices migration using Kubernetes, reducing deployment time by 60% and enabling 3x throughput scaling."
Adapt communication by audience:
| Audience | Priority | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Executives | Business impact, risk | BLUF, metrics |
| Product Managers | User impact, timeline | Options, trade-offs |
| Customers | Benefits, simplicity | Outcomes, value |
| Engineers | Technical accuracy | Details, context |
Structure challenging workplace discussions:
- Preparation: Facts, goals, their perspective, emotional check
- Delivery: Opening statement, SBI points, response handling
- Follow-up: Agreed actions, check-in plan, support offered
Based on Google's Project Aristotle research:
- Signs of safety: Mistakes admitted, questions welcomed, risks encouraged
- Signs of low safety: Silence, blame, only "safe" ideas shared
- Building safety: Model vulnerability, invite input, respond productively
Structure any explanation for maximum impact:
- WHAT (10%): Hook - grab attention with the problem/opportunity
- WHY (30%): Context - why this matters to the audience
- HOW (50%): Solution - the approach, details, evidence
- CLOSE (10%): Takeaways - key points and call-to-action
Structure feedback that lands without triggering defensiveness:
- Situation: When and where (specific context)
- Behavior: What was observed (facts only, no interpretation)
- Impact: Effect on team/project/outcomes (real consequences)
Structure behavioral interview answers:
- Situation (10%): Set the context
- Task (10%): Your specific responsibility
- Action (60%): What you did (the meat)
- Result (20%): Outcomes with metrics
Label system for clear, unambiguous code review feedback:
- praise: Highlight good work (no action needed)
- nitpick (non-blocking): Minor style issue (optional)
- suggestion: Improvement idea (consider but not required)
- issue (blocking): Must fix before merge
- question: Need clarification (response required)
| Situation | Use This |
|---|---|
| Preparing for promotion | /soft-skills:promotion-preparation |
| Tracking accomplishments | /soft-skills:track-win |
| Tailoring resume for job | /soft-skills:resume-optimization + resume-coach agent |
| Setting career goals | /soft-skills:plan-career-goals |
| Career strategy and progression | /soft-skills:career-strategy + career-coach agent |
| Preparing for difficult conversation | /soft-skills:difficult-conversations |
| Communicating to executives | /soft-skills:stakeholder-communication |
| Improving team dynamics | team-effectiveness skill |
| Preparing for behavioral interview | /soft-skills:interview-skills + interview-coach agent |
| Building personal brand | visibility-advisor agent |
| Writing professional emails | /soft-skills:draft-email |
| Giving feedback | /soft-skills:feedback-conversations |
| Creating presentations | /soft-skills:structure-presentation |
| Code review communication | /soft-skills:review-comment |
| Mentoring effectively | mentoring-developers skill |
Each skill includes reference documents with detailed guidance:
- Level expectations by role (Junior, Mid, Senior, Staff)
- Competency categories (Technical, Design, Operations, Leadership)
- IC vs management comparison and decision framework
- Promotion case templates with examples
- Brag document guide with win categorization
- Resume structure and ATS optimization
- Achievement formula with transformation examples
- Career maintenance checklist for ongoing growth
- Audience adaptation matrix by stakeholder type
- Technical translation patterns for non-technical audiences
- Executive communication with BLUF principle
- Conversation preparation templates
- Emotional regulation techniques for difficult discussions
- Email templates for common scenarios
- Meeting structures for standups, retros, 1:1s
- Psychological safety building and measurement
- Diversity benefits research and implementation
- Inclusive practices for meetings and communication
- Team dynamics patterns (Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions)
- Pair programming communication patterns
- 1:1 meeting templates for mentoring relationships
- STAR method examples for behavioral interviews
- Story bank building guide
- Salary negotiation tactics and scripts
- LinkedIn strategies for engagement
- CFP examples and abstract templates
This plugin is part of the claude-code-plugins repository by Melodic Software.
Issues and contributions welcome.
MIT
- v1.0.0 (2025-12): Initial release with communication, feedback, visibility, interviews, mentoring, career development, promotion preparation, resume optimization, difficult conversations, stakeholder communication, and team effectiveness skills