Work In Tech: Navigating Your Career in the Great Unbundling
Are you trying to find work in tech, only to feel like you’re shouting into a void? You spend hours tailoring your resume, uploading it to countless technology job boards, and receive only automated rejections in return. This experience isn't just a flaw in the system; it's a symptom of a much larger shift, a force I call "The Great Unbundling." According to a 2023 Goldman Sachs report, as many as 300 million full-time jobs could be exposed to automation by generative AI—and the tech sector is at the epicenter of this transformation.
For millennia, the value of a human being was a bundled proposition. Our analytical minds, creative impulses, physical skills, and ethical judgments were all integrated within a single person. To hire a software engineer was to hire not just a coder, but a problem-solver, a collaborator, and a strategic thinker. As I argue in my book, The Great Unbundling: How Artificial Intelligence is Redefining the Value of a Human Being, AI is systematically dismantling this bundle. It's isolating each function, optimizing it beyond human capacity, and fundamentally changing what it means to work in tech.
This article will serve as your guide through this new, unbundled landscape.
- For the AI-Curious Professional: You will understand why your job search feels different and learn concrete strategies to stand out in an automated hiring market.
- For the Philosophical Inquirer: We will explore how the very concept of a "tech job" is being deconstructed, and what that means for human value in a world of hyper-specialized AI.
- For the Aspiring AI Ethicist: We will analyze how tools like the IT jobs board and applicant tracking systems (ATS) are active agents in this unbundling, with significant ethical consequences.
The Unbundling of the Tech Professional
Historically, a career in tech meant acquiring a bundled set of skills. A "database administrator" didn't just manage databases; they understood the business logic, communicated with stakeholders, and planned for future capacity. Today, AI-powered tools are unbundling these roles task by task.
- Intelligence Unbundled: An AI like GitHub Copilot can write functional code, unbundling the raw act of programming from the deeper architectural planning and problem-framing.
- Analysis Unbundled: Tools like Tableau and Power BI, enhanced with natural language processing, can generate insights from data, unbundling complex analysis from the human analyst.
- Creativity Unbundled: Generative AI can create UI mockups, write marketing copy, and even brainstorm product features, unbundling ideation from the human creative.
This process transforms how companies hire and what they look for. They are no longer always seeking the complete, bundled professional. Instead, they often hunt for a specific, unbundled skill that fills an immediate gap. This is the new reality of tech in tech: a world of fragmented tasks where the primary challenge is proving your value beyond a single, automatable function.
The Role of Technology Job Boards in the Unbundling Machine
Where do you go when you want to work in tech? The default answer is an online job board. Yet, these platforms are more than just digital classifieds; they are powerful engines accelerating the unbundling process. The modern job boards for tech operate on a logic of deconstruction.
You, the applicant, are unbundled into a collection of keywords: "Python," "AWS," "Scrum," "Machine Learning." Your years of experience are reduced to a data point. Your unique ability to connect disparate ideas is lost in a system that wasn't built to see it.
The Algorithmic Sieve: How an IT Jobs Board Filters Humanity
The vast majority of large companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage the flood of applications. It's estimated that these systems discard up to 75% of resumes before they ever reach a human hiring manager. The ATS is the unbundling mechanism in its purest form.
It scans for keywords, desired years of experience, and specific credentials. It doesn’t look for passion, curiosity, or the ability to learn. It is designed to find the most precise, unbundled component to fit a specific slot in the corporate machine. This is why you can be perfectly qualified for a role but be algorithmically invisible. The system isn't evaluating you; it's matching patterns.
Navigating the Maze: Finding the Best Job Board for Tech Jobs
While no platform is perfect, they are not all created equal. Understanding their underlying logic—how they unbundle you—is key to using them effectively.
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For Broad Exposure (The Unbundling Giants):
- LinkedIn: The undisputed king. Its strength is its vast network, but it's also a prime example of keyword-driven unbundling. Strategy: Your profile must be meticulously optimized with the keywords relevant to your desired roles. Think of your summary and experience sections as SEO for your career.
- Indeed/Glassdoor: These massive aggregators pull from everywhere. They offer quantity over quality and are heavily reliant on ATS filtering. Strategy: Use them for market research—to see which skills are in demand—but apply directly on company websites whenever possible to bypass at least one layer of algorithmic filtering.
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For Specialized Roles (Niche Unbundling):
- Dice: A long-standing IT jobs board with a focus on traditional tech roles. It's less noisy than LinkedIn but still operates on the same keyword-matching principles. Strategy: Excellent for finding roles with specific, hard-to-find technical requirements if you possess them.
- Otta: Pitches itself as a more candidate-centric platform, matching you with companies based on your preferences for culture, salary, and values. This represents a slight move toward re-bundling, as it considers factors beyond raw skills. Strategy: Be brutally honest in your preferences to get the most relevant matches.
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For Quality over Quantity (The Re-bundling Contenders):
- Hired: An inverted marketplace where companies apply to you. By creating a detailed profile showcasing projects and skills, you present a more "bundled" version of yourself. Strategy: Invest significant time in your profile. Your project descriptions and bio are more important here than anywhere else.
- Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent): The go-to for startup jobs. Startups, often with fewer resources, tend to look for more versatile, "bundled" individuals who can wear multiple hats. Strategy: Emphasize your adaptability, learning speed, and any cross-functional experience.
The best job board for tech jobs is the one whose unbundling mechanism best aligns with your personal "bundle" of skills and experience. But relying on them alone is a defensive strategy. The winning approach is to go on the offensive.
The Great Re-bundling: How to Build an Indispensable Tech Career
The unbundling of human capability is inevitable. Resisting it is futile. The strategic response, the path to not just surviving but thriving, is what I call "The Great Re-bundling." This is the conscious and deliberate act of re-integrating skills in novel and valuable ways that AI cannot (yet) replicate.
If you want to secure your future as you work in tech, you must become an expert re-bundler.
1. Re-bundle Technical and Humanistic Skills
The most valuable professionals of the next decade will be those who can bridge the gap between the machine and the human. An AI can optimize a database, but it cannot understand the ethical implications of the data within it. It can write code, but it cannot persuade a skeptical executive team to fund the project.
- Actionable Insight: Pair your technical specialty with a "human" skill.
- Are you a data scientist? Re-bundle your skills with compelling storytelling and data visualization. Don't just present numbers; build a narrative.
- Are you a software engineer? Re-bundle your coding prowess with deep domain knowledge in a non-tech field like finance or healthcare. Become the indispensable translator.
- Are you a UX designer? Re-bundle your design skills with behavioral psychology to create experiences that are not just usable, but deeply resonant.
2. Become the "Artisan" Professional
The Industrial Revolution automated craftsmanship, but it didn't eliminate it. It created a new appreciation for the artisan—the individual who bundled skill, creativity, and personal touch into a unique product. A similar dynamic is emerging in tech.
- Actionable Insight: Treat your work as a craft. An "artisan coder" doesn't just complete tickets; they write elegant, maintainable, and thoughtful code. They mentor junior developers. They contribute to open-source projects. They build a reputation for a unique style of problem-solving. This bundled identity is far harder to automate than the skill of "writing a Python script."
3. Your Portfolio as a Re-bundling Manifesto
Your resume is an unbundled list of facts. Your portfolio is a bundled demonstration of value. In an era of AI-generated content and deepfakes, verifiable, high-quality work is the ultimate currency.
- Actionable Insight: Stop thinking of your portfolio as a gallery and start treating it as your core argument. Each project should tell a story:
- The Problem: What was the human-centric challenge?
- The Unbundled Tasks: Which parts could have been automated (e.g., generating boilerplate code)?
- Your Re-bundled Contribution: Where did you add unique value? Did you combine technical skill with user empathy? Did you invent a novel solution? Did you navigate complex team dynamics?
This approach reframes your value proposition away from a list of skills an AI can also possess, and toward a unique, integrated capability that is yours alone.
The Future of Work in Tech: Beyond the Job Board
The very idea of a stable "job" is a product of the industrial era—a bundled set of responsibilities that is now being dismantled. As we venture further into the Unbundled World, we must prepare for a future defined by projects, gigs, and fluid collaborations. For more on this societal shift, see our analysis on AI and the Future of Labor.
The ultimate challenge presented by The Great Unbundling is a philosophical one. When our capabilities are unbundled and outsourced to superior artificial intelligences, what is the basis for human value? The answer will not be found by competing with AI on its terms—in speed, data processing, or logical perfection. It will be found in re-bundling our abilities in ways that are creative, ethical, and deeply human.
Your career is the front line of this challenge. The next time you search for how to work in tech, don't just ask which job boards for tech are best. Ask yourself: What is my unique bundle? And how can I demonstrate it in a world that wants to tear it apart?
Ready to explore the forces reshaping our world? Dive deeper into the concepts of The Great Unbundling and The Great Re-bundling.