DEV Community: Clark Teeple

The 5 Kinds Of Tech People Who Will Survive AI

Clark Teeple — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 13:08:21 +0000

There are 5 kinds of tech people who will thrive in the near future.

I also think everyone else is probably screwed?

Yeah yeah, I know, AI is not good enough to replace actual software engineers yet, I hear ya...

But there's reality and then there's reality, and reality is that if AI can 💩 out code that "works," it's going to replace people because it's cheaper. And it's also going to get better, so it can "replace" more people until either it can actually replace people or the whole industry becomes such a garbage fire that trying to predict is pointless.

The future is weird, right? So even if you disagree with the premise, the advice below still applies to you... think of it as a list of the 5 kinds of people who are future-proof in general.

The Well Connected

Your CTO probably writes worse code than you. I'm not sure I've ever met a developer who thinks their CTO is technically competent.

So if it's not tech skills... why? Why are they your CTO?

Is it age? Experience? Track record?

Yeah, timeInIndustry is a factor... but what happens when you're in an industry for a long time?

You meet people.

Provided they didn't start the company or get promoted early on, your CTO is almost certainly well-connected. The well-connected developer with average tech skills will always outcompete the genuinely talented developer no one knows.

This applies to every single kind of job, by the way. Not just tech.

And networks don't just mean access to the hidden job market.

Having a strong, diverse network means you can pivot. You can stay ahead. You can learn from people, hear from people, and ask people for favours.

AI can't touch this. Real relationships based on real trust are irreplaceable.

The Highly Visible

Social proof. You want social proof. Proof that you're a real person, a valuable person, a person worth listening to and working with.

Social proof scales with your public personal brand and the people who can be seen to know you.

I mostly mean LinkedIn followers.

Or YouTube or github stars or whatever. But since this is a blog for developers, I mostly mean LinkedIn.

Yeah, it's dumb. Yeah, it's not really fair. Follower count a noisy signal at best for competence. It's mostly static.

So what? People see signal. So broadcast, baby. Become visible. Pick a platform and do the dance. Polish your presence and make yourself look not just competent, but put together and aesthetic. You are your vibe.

Feels bad, right? Just wait for the next one.

The Winners

My most prized possession is the 4th place ribbon I got in high jump in grade 8.

Luckily I've had some wins since then.

Wins are career currency.

You want to be able to point at this, this and this thing you did and explain how much money it made.

Be crass. Take credit. Because people hire you for wins. No one gives a shit about the code, they give a shit about how much revenue it drove or how much money you saved on AWS costs.

For example, I re-scoped a core component of a $2m project and saved $700k on development costs while delivering the exact same functionality to the users. Do you want to save 35% on your development costs? Because I, empirically, can save you 35% on your development costs.

Simplify the process. Talk about the outcomes. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you bloviate about how you achieved those outcomes. Tie those outcomes to money and hammer the point home.

This is why sales people can outearn their CEOs. They can point to a big shiny 7 digit number and say "I did that." Even if AI can "do that," they can still "do that"... so their company can eat the cake they also have.

What is your "I did that?"

The Value Creators

Speaking of "I did that," whose idea was it? Did you conceptualize or execute? Were you the general or the infantry? The ringmaster or the clown?

Allllll the incentives are aligned for AI to eat implementation. Implementation costs money. Strategy makes money.

Good strategy might be automated someday. But strategy is not that expensive. 6-figure consultants are cheap compared to 8 figure development costs.

So AI will be leveraged to reduce development costs first.

Look at your work history and if you find a comment you left on some Confluence document that could be construed as "this was my idea"... IT WAS YOUR IDEA. Take it and run. You created the value that led to the outcome that makes you a winner.

Did you realize your users actually wanted X feature and hit a product-market fit bullseye? Did you find a competitive gap in your industry? Did you suggest a tweak to the marketing site that 10x'd conversion?

Pin that ribbon on your wall.

The Offline

Maybe you don't want to do any of this bullshit. 💯 I Feel That.

So opt out!

Seriously!

Start a lawn care company or a moving company or build decks. You can make serious money doing that. Maybe pick something strategically. Septic tanks need to be emptied even if the economy sucks (😉).

No matter what, adapting to the future requires serious, tough work. I wouldn't blame you for wanting to shift gears entirely.

Start a sweaty startup if you want. It's a legitimate option. And AI is not coming for pump trucks yet.

Am I Wrong?

Did I miss a category? Am I wrong?

I'm often wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong about this.

If you want to argue with me, subscribe to Refactor Your Career and reply to the email. I would love to hear how I'm wrong :)

In all seriousness, relationships and your personal narrative really, really matter. You need a solid story of who you are and why you should be taken seriously, and you need a means to distribute that story.

If you need help, connect on the mailing list. I want to help 10,000 developers future-proof their careers by the end of 2026... you can be one of them!

A Practical 10 Step Guide to Networking (the people kind)

Clark Teeple — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 14:05:34 +0000

When I first started networking... I hated it. I had no idea what I was doing. I felt like an imposter. Part of that was just my natural introversion, but part of it was just not understanding the practical ins and outs of the practice.

So in the interest of helping you avoid that learning curve, here is how I would start if I had to start again from zero.

This is a practical guide, but one piece of mindset advice: the whole point is to build trust and build relationships. This isn't a game or a mechanical process - you're talking to real people and building a real reputation. So be yourself! Be nice! And don't stress... if you have that mindset, it's really hard to screw this up.

1. Set a goal, or don't

Are you enthusiastic about this idea? Then let that enthusiasm carry you. Don't set rigid "5 calls a week" goals yet. Don't systematize it. Just do it.

Are you... less than enthusiastic about this idea? Then set a goal. 1 call a week is a great place to start.

2. Make a list

Make a list of all the people in your personal and professional life who you think are already part of your network. Your close friends don't count, nor do your current coworkers. Former colleagues, acquaintences, people you met at events, even people you've never met in real life but have had some touchpoint with virtually.

If you have an active-ish LinkedIn, go through your connections to make this process easier.

Put all the names in a spreadsheet, and then pick five people you want to start with. Just go with your gut here, it doesn't really matter. People you think you could have a pleasant conversation with.

3. Start with video

Unless you're an extrovert who likes going out to events, I wouldn't recommend starting this way. It's much harder to learn the skill of networking when you're nervous about how you look. You can't have a good conversation if you don't know what to do with your hands.

Start with video calls. You can control your environment. It doesn't matter if you forget to put on deodorant.

4. Have a "script"

You should know your answer in advance to questions like "what do you do" or "tell me about yourself."

It shouldn't be a long-winded info-dump or a snappy sales pitch. Just natural answers to those kinds of questions that you don't need to think about in the moment.

What do you do?
Tell me about yourself
What kind of opportunities are you looking for?
Is there anything I can do for you?

You will notice yourself answering the same questions over and over - just have an answer in advance!

This is the basis of authentic personal branding.

5. Record your calls

Get Fathom or some other call transcription service and have it join your calls. Very few people mind, and it's enlightening watching yourself talk. You'll pick up on verbal habits, mannerisms, and other aspects of your own conversational ability that you can either lean into or correct.

6. Only ask questions

You shouldn't have an agenda. You're not trying to get a job or make a sale. You're not pitching yourself.

People love when other people listen to them. The best way to make a good impression is to not talk at all - just ask questions.

Eventually the other person will ask you something... go ahead and answer, but turn the conversation back to them as soon as you can. The person asking questions is the one guiding the conversation, and part of the skill of networking is guiding conversations. So practice it, and make a good impression at the same time.

7. Ask for intros

Okay, so you do have an agenda, but it's not nefarious.

You should always end the call by asking for an intro to one or two other people who might be interesting for you to talk to.

People love connecting people. I've never not had someone agree to this, and it's by far the best way to start the networking snowball rolling down the hill.

8. Help people

Try to find ways to help every person you talk to. Maybe you can solve a technical problem for them. Maybe you can point them in the right direction for information or connect them with someone else who might be able to help them more.

You can almost always find a way to help... and that's the whole point here. Build trust, build relationships. The best way you can do that is by helping.

9. Follow up

The day after your conversation, send an email or a DM to the person you talked to. Just say you appreciated the conversation and would love to stay in touch.

Two or three months after that, send another email or DM to check in and see how they're doing. You can set up another chat if you want - however, this is where selectivity comes in. You can't follow up with everyone you talk to, otherwise your calendar will explode. But if you meet someone you got along really well with, or someone who seems likely to have opportunities for you, make an effort to connect on a somewhat regular basis.

10. Set a goal

Once you've gotten the hang of this process, it's time to systematize it and set a goal. I like 5 calls per week. It's very achievable, it only takes 2.5 hours a week, and it grows your network at a solid clip without overwhelming you.

You can set a different goal... 1 or 10 or 30. Depends how much time you have and what your goals are. Just make sure you remember that the whole point is to build trust and build relationships, so don't sacrifice quality for quantity.

That's it! That's how you start networking. It's not actually hard to do - it's just hard to start. So start! If you want help, sign up for my newsletter and send me an email. I'm happy to be your first networking call.

Invest in your network, not your tech skills

Clark Teeple — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:56:27 +0000

Grinding leetcode is a waste of time. It's a low-leverage activity with extreme opportunity cost.

It's like buying five lottery tickets instead of one.

Let me explain.

1. Investing in programming ability has diminishing returns for your career

The economic value of programming has never been lower. The number of programmers has never been higher.

Thousands and thousands of programmers can credibly claim to be better at it than you.

Most employers don't care. Most freelancing clients don't care. Nobody who pays for programming actually cares how good you are at it.

People pay for results. They care about your ability only to the extent that you can deliver those results.

Once you reach that bar, they care much, much more about other things.

Do they like you?

Do they trust you?

Can you operate independently or will they have to hold your hand?

Do you understand the larger context of what they're trying to do?

This is the bar most developers fail to clear when they get cut from an interview process.

2. If you're reading this, you're probably already good enough

Can you write fizzbuzz?

Then you're technically qualified for most "senior" developer jobs.

I'm not kidding. I've interviewed hundreds of people, and 90% of them couldn't write fizzbuzz. I'm not even talking about getting syntax right - I'm talking about pseudocode.

I've talked to "senior infrastructure developers" who didn't know what Terraform is.

I've talked to frontend developers who couldn't write valid css and html.

My point is that the bar for tech jobs is lower than you think.

It gets higher at more selective companies, but if you can code your way out of a paper bag, you still have a leg up on most of the competition.

3. AI is going to eat programming

If all you bring to the table is your ability to code, your value is already decreasing.

Outsourcing, no-code, and AI are going to keep wearing away at the foundation of your career. It might not collapse completely, but you won't be able to build on it.

You have a window of opportunity right now to do something about it. You need to differentiate yourself and find new ways to create opportunity for yourself.

So what can you do about it?

Build the one thing that can be totally unique to you.

Build the one thing AI can never replace.

Build your reputation.

Develop a network. Create a personal brand. Help people, connect people, and encourage people.

Because then, people will remember you.

They will like you.

They will trust you.

They will know who you are and what you're capable of.

That's what will set you apart. That's what will create opportunities for you.

That's how you build a foundation for a valuable, future-proof career.

If you want to get started, head over to https://refactoryourcareer.tech and sign up for the newsletter!