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Published May 6th, 2026
Is it really that complicated? I wanted a site where I put in a zip code or a GPS marker. I set a radial distance. I get businesses within that sphere of influence. I see if they posted jobs or volunteer positions.
But if it was that easy, no one would be forced to stay on the mainstream aggregate sites. They don’t get paid if you stop looking for jobs.
So I made my own job search engine.
I brushed up on GIS and relied on open-source tools like QGIS, OpenStreetMaps, and Florida State Business Tax Records available to the public for isochrones (instead of a radius around a marker, think time to travel from that marker in a blob. So if you walk for ten minutes in every direction with a foot path, how far could you go? Trace that weirdly shaped border and you have an isochrone). I compiled these map layers (state of Florida from OpenStreetMaps and other teams, official state of Florida maps, my generated isochrones, my point search layer for all potential business landmarks) and exported the business metadata to a spreadsheet. I brought in the huge database from the state of Florida and pivoted the data out to the region I’m reviewing. I then had a directory of every business and their contact information for the area of interest.
The real advantage here, I find, is that while you lose the ease of applying to positions within the same site, you gain granularity and practical listings with the advantage of being an actual person and getting close to it use to be as walking in with a resume. A lot of positions never make it to the job boards, unsurprisingly, thanks to steep asks of pricing and the influx of spam. Why would a non-profit locally-run effort invest $15-50/day on a post that no one would see?
It seems a year ago I could maybe access any mainstream job search site and query for any open positions in the vicinity of a map marker and, if the employer or charity had posted this on the site, sure - you’d get the ad.
But now, there’s so much obfuscation and attempt to better anticipate my needs, my needs aren’t being met.
This is a major reason for me hosting this site as well. Realizing that mainstream boards were mostly fluff showed me that I could do 90% of what I needed them for myself. You can do this too. I want to see a return to form of the job market where local businesses self-promote and encourage local hires, while regional businesses leverage these wider-reaching platforms. My ideal version of this would be a literal open-source spreadsheet that any workplace could link postings within for their own privately syndicated listings on their websites. If you find something like that, I’d always be interested.