Part 3: Advice to Juniors on How to Break In and Stay Relevant

In the first two parts of this series, we looked at the squeeze facing junior developers as agentic development proliferates, and how the junior role itself is being redefined. While the current state of the industry may be daunting to a junior trying to get their foot in the door, it isn't hopeless. If you're a junior trying to break into this industry right now, the path is undoubtedly different than it used to be, but it's still there, and the developers who thrive in this new environment will be the ones who are deliberate about a few things. Here's my advice.

Build a network

This is the one I can't stress enough, because it's the sole reason I’m even in this industry today. Not a network of contacts, a network of real relationships with people who can pull you up the ladder, but also people you can talk to candidly and regularly. My best recommendation would be to start with friends, family, and any other personal connections you may have that work in the industry, and then branch out from there. Having someone at the beginning of your career who you can trust to bounce questions off of, ask for advice, and steer you in the right direction is a massive benefit that a lot of new developers overlook. I wouldn't be here without the mentors and connections who did exactly that for me. I would say if you’re trying to break into this industry, my first recommendation would be to go find someone who is actively working as a software developer right now. 

And you don't have to limit your network to just software developers. Build relationships with anyone in the industry who inspires you, whatever their role.

The fastest way to do this is to show up. Attend every event, meetup, and conference you reasonably can. Join a coworking space. Become more active on linkedin and developer communities. The more you show your face and present yourself as an eager and capable developer, the more you establish a presence, especially in your local scene. People want to hire people they know, and the more exposure you get to the companies and managers who are actually hiring, the more likely they are to give your application a real look. You want to become "that one dev" in your city who's always at the events, providing solid insights and conversation, and talking confidently about software development. Maintaining lasting relationships within the industry is without a doubt the most effective way to stay relevant and hireable.

Be a sponge

As a junior dev, the world is your oyster, and you should learn as much as you possibly can from your peers and seniors. Any time you see a chance to work with someone, or to work on something that teaches you a skill you don't already have, take it. You should embrace every opportunity to learn something with an open mind and an insatiable appetite.

That means raising your hand. Your company needs help with DevOps? Volunteer. A family friend needs a website for their new small business? Offer to build it. A peer is deploying a new service? Jump on a pair programming session. Every chance you get to work on something real and new is a chance you should take. 

And lastly, one of the most critical aspects of sponging: always clarify the things you don't know. When you run into something unfamiliar, it's your job to go figure it out. If a developer mentions a framework you've never heard of or a technique that's new to you, don't just file it away as "something I don't know" and move on. Go research it. Understand the context around it, not just a vague one-line definition. Then, if you have the capacity, go further and actually build something with it! The best way to learn as a software developer is to get your hands dirty and start working. I’ve been in this industry for almost 5 years, and this is still something I’m regularly doing, constantly reading docs and having conversations with an LLM to help further my understanding of unfamiliar topics.

Use AI tools to your advantage

A lot of juniors are hesitant to pick up AI tools, worried it'll undermine their skillset or make them look like they can't do the work themselves. Drop that fear. While I don’t recommend diving head first into code gen and vibes, I do, however, believe that if used well, these tools are one of the best learning aids available to you.

When you're working on something you've never done before, lean on your preferred coding agents to brainstorm, draft plans, explain concepts in simple terms, and dig up real-world examples. AI is also incredibly useful for navigating and understanding an unfamiliar codebase, the kind of thing that used to eat days of a junior's time. So use Claude Code, Codex, or whatever model you prefer to begin turning over stones in the repository, and shed light on areas that may be confusing or unfamiliar. The goal isn't to have the AI do the work for you; it's to use it to ramp up faster, understand deeper, and to fit higher level work on your plate.

The basics still matter

None of the above replaces fundamentals. You don't need to learn every language and framework out there, but you should pick a stack that's relevant in today's industry and genuinely understand how those technologies are used to build applications.

You should still be able to whiteboard a problem and write code without an LLM in front of you. And as much as it pains me to be the bearer of bad news… no, LeetCode isn't dead… Just because companies are using AI to write code doesn't mean you can skip a working grasp of data structures and algorithms, or skip proving you can solve problems programmatically. Technical rounds are alive and well, and they'll keep evolving as developer roles get augmented with AI, so keep your finger on that pulse, but don't bet on them disappearing.

The industry you’re trying to penetrate is shifting fast, and that's exactly why the fundamentals of being a good developer and a known, trusted person in your field matter more than ever. Build the relationships, stay endlessly curious, use every tool available to you, and keep your core skills sharp. Do that, stay committed, and you'll be hard to overlook.