4 ms·

Ask HN: Review My Startup - grep42, a freelance job search engine

20 points by jagtesh 16y ago

Hey guys, I'm the founder of grep42 which is a freelance/contract job search engine. The USP of grep42 is to allow freelancers to spend less time searching for the right job and more time working and earning. As of now one can search from close to about ~40k freelance openings from different job sites almost instantly. The speed is here to stay :) I had been freelancing for a while before working full-time on this, so I've built this to be a product that I would use. I really hope other freelancers feel the same way. ANY feedback and feature suggestions would be HIGHLY appreciated! Eagerly and impatiently waiting till then! :)

suliamansaleh 16y ago
kool app, do you think you can highlight(or bold) the search terms on your search results, so users can see where thier keywords appear on the results, it just makes it easier to look at :))
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Thanks! Great suggestion. I'll work on that :-) Do you see yourself using it regularly?
  - suliamansaleh 16y ago
    yeh defo, instead of me searching all these freelancing websites, i would rather just have a search engine to do that for me, makes my life so much easier ;)
    - jagtesh 16y ago
      Awesome! Thanks :D
jagtesh 16y ago
I should've mentioned this before, it's in pre-beta phase right now. Feature suggestions are welcome!
- dinkumthinkum 16y ago
  It would be nice to be able to filter out different sources. For instance, someone may have had a lot of bad experiences with oDesk so would rather not even see their postings.
  - jagtesh 16y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion! It's possible to do the inverse right now, pick results from a particular source. Like you could search for "+php +facebook source:elance" (without quotes) to get php+mysql jobs results from elance. You can also specify a budget with "minbudget:[number]" shorthand. It will search for all jobs with budget >= what is specified. There's a third shorthand that lets you see only fixed-pay jobs or hourly jobs "type:[hourly OR fixed]". Its all written down here http://www.grep42.com/faqs/ http://www.grep42.com/faqs/. Perhaps I should make it more obvious? EDIT: Sorry, the shorthand/filter "budget:[number]" should be "minbudget:[number]"
    - dinkumthinkum 16y ago
      Maybe all that stuff could be put in the UI, perhaps with a javascript popout that has checkboxes, etc and then when the user enters the data, the code is injected into the search bar. Just an idea.
      - jagtesh 16y ago
        Hmm. One thing's for sure, it's gotta be click friendly. I'm thinking drag and drop, clicks, minimal typing..
jamesteow 16y ago
Very cool idea. I'm surprised I haven't seen this done elsewhere. Suggestions: Would be cool if there were more options like, specifying a price range. I'd also prefer more results per page instead of just five. I also think the results could be designed a little bit more... like having a little more leading and tweak the positioning of the meta-data so that it's a bit more readable. I'd also prefer some information on the job creator. I love Krop.com because it allows me to scan job titles, company, and location. I don't bring this up to copy them but rather to show how easy it is to scan. Same goes with sidestep.com results: many different types of data in one result but designed with care to scannability and a clear hierarchy.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Very valuable points, thanks! Although it's not yet possible to search an exact price range, its possible to search for all jobs matching a certain criteria with a price >= X. For example, if you wanted to look for all banner designing jobs worth, say $500+, you could search the following: +banner +design minbudget:500 I hadn't though about the job creator until you mentioned it :) Will work on adding some info about them. I really see what you mean with Krop.com and sidestep.com. It's a big challenge, fitting in a lot of data in a meaningful way without overwhelming the user. You've given me a few good leads. I really appreciate it. Thanks! EDIT: Sorry, this is the correct query: +banner +design minbudget:500
znt 16y ago
Creating a "telecommute" flag/checkbox would be very useful so people can find international work easier.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Thanks, I'll put that on the growing list of enhancements :)
wwortiz 16y ago
Simply adding this: A search engine that helps people find work on the internet. (From the about page) or something similar right under the title would make it much easier to get what it is at first glance Some other feedback: the text descriptions for jobs seems a bit wide and hard to read for me. I think it would benefit from better text contrast (I find it hard to read lighter grays on white. Otherwise it looks interesting, though I don't see a startup point other than sponsored listings.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Thanks for your suggestions! I'll add a sub-title below the logo as you suggested. That's very good observation with the description text width, it does seem a bit wide. I've used dark grays in place of black to balance the contrast. I personally find it more readable this way, but maybe I'm alone on this.
rriepe 16y ago
The name is a bit weird but I'm guessing you're okay with that. For some reason, the page seems off-center. This might be my tiny resolution combined with the feedback tab on the right. Love the results page. I would love to see some of the advanced search options incorporated into the UI-- maybe on an advanced search page, though, so you aren't sacrificing any simplicity. I would maybe tighten the letter spacing between the g and r, and definitely between the r and e.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Thanks :) Hehe. The name has a story behind it. grep is a UNIX tool used for searching files for matching text. 42 is the "Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything". So grep42 is a search engine for searching the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything ;) Well, maybe we'll get there someday! I saw the page just now. It seems centered to me. What resolution are you running at? I am working on the advance search options UI atm. It's a tricky one. Cause there's still some other things I need to figure out which could affect advanced search. However, some of the capability is already there but it comes without a UI (more here http://www.grep42.com/faqs/ http://www.grep42.com/faqs/) Thanks for the suggestion with spacings! I wanted to avoid images as much as possible, but seems like I'll have to settle for a logo image to incorporate the fine-tuning!
  - JimmyL 16y ago
    I wouldn't bank on people getting what the name means, if that's part of your branding strategy - if you're getting questions about it here (where I think it's fair to say almost everyone knows what grep is, and most people have probably read some part of HHGTTG), you can be sure that most people won't get it. Personally, I read it as "grep-for-2", which doesn't really mean anything.
    - jagtesh 16y ago
      grep-four-two is how I pronounce it too. I feel its neither cliched nor easily comprehensible yet sort of catchy once you're used to it. Its not something anyone would relate to at first; but its an opportunity, a differentiator, an empty cup that could be filled with anything. Once people start relating to it, they'd never confuse it with something else :)
iamaleksey 16y ago
This is useful, thanks. Would be even better with RSS/Atom feed.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Glad you find it useful :)
Qz 16y ago
Wishing I could see more than 5 listings at a time.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  This seems to be high on everyone's list :) I've made it 10/page. The page has become much longer now. Is 10/page enough or do want it to show even more results? Any suggestions on the job result format?
  - Qz 16y ago
    I think 10 is good, but would be nice if the 'more results' button just loaded more directly into the page, instead of going to a new page. That way you can keep track of things on one page instead of opening up a bunch of tabs for all the listings you're interested in.
edanm 16y ago
Quick UI gripe - I'm not crazy about the "text inside the search box" UI thing. I used it myself in a few places, but found that lots of people automatically click on the search box, and their text disappears, meaning they have no idea what they're searching for. Much better to just add a label before the search box. Another option is to keep the text until the users actually starts typing, but I haven't tested that option too much - I'm afraid it might be confusing for users, who don't realize they can start typing to clear the text.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Wow. Indeed, it is a bit confusing. A much better way would be adding a small label at the top. But I'm afraid the whole UI will become cluttered with several "small labels" creating a WTF UX :(
  - Qz 16y ago
    I think it would still look clean if you just move the inside the box text on top or bottom of the search box.

20 points by jagtesh 16y ago

suliamansaleh 16y ago

kool app, do you think you can highlight(or bold) the search terms on your search results, so users can see where thier keywords appear on the results, it just makes it easier to look at :))

jagtesh 16y ago
Thanks! Great suggestion. I'll work on that :-) Do you see yourself using it regularly?
- suliamansaleh 16y ago
  yeh defo, instead of me searching all these freelancing websites, i would rather just have a search engine to do that for me, makes my life so much easier ;)
  - jagtesh 16y ago
    Awesome! Thanks :D

jagtesh 16y ago

I should've mentioned this before, it's in pre-beta phase right now. Feature suggestions are welcome!

dinkumthinkum 16y ago
It would be nice to be able to filter out different sources. For instance, someone may have had a lot of bad experiences with oDesk so would rather not even see their postings.
- jagtesh 16y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion! It's possible to do the inverse right now, pick results from a particular source. Like you could search for "+php +facebook source:elance" (without quotes) to get php+mysql jobs results from elance. You can also specify a budget with "minbudget:[number]" shorthand. It will search for all jobs with budget >= what is specified. There's a third shorthand that lets you see only fixed-pay jobs or hourly jobs "type:[hourly OR fixed]". Its all written down here http://www.grep42.com/faqs/ http://www.grep42.com/faqs/. Perhaps I should make it more obvious? EDIT: Sorry, the shorthand/filter "budget:[number]" should be "minbudget:[number]"
  - dinkumthinkum 16y ago
    Maybe all that stuff could be put in the UI, perhaps with a javascript popout that has checkboxes, etc and then when the user enters the data, the code is injected into the search bar. Just an idea.
    - jagtesh 16y ago
      Hmm. One thing's for sure, it's gotta be click friendly. I'm thinking drag and drop, clicks, minimal typing..

jamesteow 16y ago

Very cool idea. I'm surprised I haven't seen this done elsewhere. Suggestions: Would be cool if there were more options like, specifying a price range. I'd also prefer more results per page instead of just five. I also think the results could be designed a little bit more... like having a little more leading and tweak the positioning of the meta-data so that it's a bit more readable. I'd also prefer some information on the job creator. I love Krop.com because it allows me to scan job titles, company, and location. I don't bring this up to copy them but rather to show how easy it is to scan. Same goes with sidestep.com results: many different types of data in one result but designed with care to scannability and a clear hierarchy.

jagtesh 16y ago
Very valuable points, thanks! Although it's not yet possible to search an exact price range, its possible to search for all jobs matching a certain criteria with a price >= X. For example, if you wanted to look for all banner designing jobs worth, say $500+, you could search the following: +banner +design minbudget:500 I hadn't though about the job creator until you mentioned it :) Will work on adding some info about them. I really see what you mean with Krop.com and sidestep.com. It's a big challenge, fitting in a lot of data in a meaningful way without overwhelming the user. You've given me a few good leads. I really appreciate it. Thanks! EDIT: Sorry, this is the correct query: +banner +design minbudget:500

znt 16y ago

Creating a "telecommute" flag/checkbox would be very useful so people can find international work easier.

jagtesh 16y ago
Thanks, I'll put that on the growing list of enhancements :)

wwortiz 16y ago

Simply adding this: A search engine that helps people find work on the internet. (From the about page) or something similar right under the title would make it much easier to get what it is at first glance Some other feedback: the text descriptions for jobs seems a bit wide and hard to read for me. I think it would benefit from better text contrast (I find it hard to read lighter grays on white. Otherwise it looks interesting, though I don't see a startup point other than sponsored listings.

jagtesh 16y ago
Thanks for your suggestions! I'll add a sub-title below the logo as you suggested. That's very good observation with the description text width, it does seem a bit wide. I've used dark grays in place of black to balance the contrast. I personally find it more readable this way, but maybe I'm alone on this.

rriepe 16y ago

The name is a bit weird but I'm guessing you're okay with that. For some reason, the page seems off-center. This might be my tiny resolution combined with the feedback tab on the right. Love the results page. I would love to see some of the advanced search options incorporated into the UI-- maybe on an advanced search page, though, so you aren't sacrificing any simplicity. I would maybe tighten the letter spacing between the g and r, and definitely between the r and e.

jagtesh 16y ago
Thanks :) Hehe. The name has a story behind it. grep is a UNIX tool used for searching files for matching text. 42 is the "Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything". So grep42 is a search engine for searching the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything ;) Well, maybe we'll get there someday! I saw the page just now. It seems centered to me. What resolution are you running at? I am working on the advance search options UI atm. It's a tricky one. Cause there's still some other things I need to figure out which could affect advanced search. However, some of the capability is already there but it comes without a UI (more here http://www.grep42.com/faqs/ http://www.grep42.com/faqs/) Thanks for the suggestion with spacings! I wanted to avoid images as much as possible, but seems like I'll have to settle for a logo image to incorporate the fine-tuning!
- JimmyL 16y ago
  I wouldn't bank on people getting what the name means, if that's part of your branding strategy - if you're getting questions about it here (where I think it's fair to say almost everyone knows what grep is, and most people have probably read some part of HHGTTG), you can be sure that most people won't get it. Personally, I read it as "grep-for-2", which doesn't really mean anything.
  - jagtesh 16y ago
    grep-four-two is how I pronounce it too. I feel its neither cliched nor easily comprehensible yet sort of catchy once you're used to it. Its not something anyone would relate to at first; but its an opportunity, a differentiator, an empty cup that could be filled with anything. Once people start relating to it, they'd never confuse it with something else :)

iamaleksey 16y ago

This is useful, thanks. Would be even better with RSS/Atom feed.

jagtesh 16y ago
Glad you find it useful :)

Qz 16y ago

Wishing I could see more than 5 listings at a time.

jagtesh 16y ago
This seems to be high on everyone's list :) I've made it 10/page. The page has become much longer now. Is 10/page enough or do want it to show even more results? Any suggestions on the job result format?
- Qz 16y ago
  I think 10 is good, but would be nice if the 'more results' button just loaded more directly into the page, instead of going to a new page. That way you can keep track of things on one page instead of opening up a bunch of tabs for all the listings you're interested in.

edanm 16y ago

Quick UI gripe - I'm not crazy about the "text inside the search box" UI thing. I used it myself in a few places, but found that lots of people automatically click on the search box, and their text disappears, meaning they have no idea what they're searching for. Much better to just add a label before the search box. Another option is to keep the text until the users actually starts typing, but I haven't tested that option too much - I'm afraid it might be confusing for users, who don't realize they can start typing to clear the text.

jagtesh 16y ago
Wow. Indeed, it is a bit confusing. A much better way would be adding a small label at the top. But I'm afraid the whole UI will become cluttered with several "small labels" creating a WTF UX :(
- Qz 16y ago
  I think it would still look clean if you just move the inside the box text on top or bottom of the search box.