Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the main social competencies that future engineers need to become recognized professionals. In the paper the key competencies for contemporary engineers are examined and the focus is given on the importance of social competencies for professional development. A competency research model is developed taking into consideration the current research published in scientific papers, gathered opinion of students from Technical University of Sofia and early-aged operating engineers. Design/methodology/approach: The raised research questions are: "Which social competencies do future engineers need to possess in order to be successful and self-efficient in their personal and professional development?" and "Does the set of essential social competencies vary in different scenarios of engineering practice?" Findings: The received results after detailed analysis of university students' vote and opinion of the operating young engineers about what kind of social abilities are important for a reliable and effective engineering practice point to social competencies like: communication, teamwork, networking and adaptability are among the competencies with highest priority. These competencies are pointed out by engineers from Philips ETG as very important for successful social behavior too. Among the highest scored ability according to the students' ratings is self-management of social activities. That means that they wish to know how to manage their behavior and what kind of tools to use in order to be successful persons in their career development. The performed investigation about the key competencies for engineers results in a social competency research model that could support the building of a reliable engineering profile together with the required specific technical competencies. Originality/value: Successful professional realization requires not only specific technical competences of engineers, but also suitable social behavior. In this work the essential social competences for engineers are investigated and a social competency research model is proposed after comparison of preliminary students' vote, rating of students working on projects and gathered opinion of early-aged engineers. (Contains 3 figures and 6 tables.)