Imagine I could tell you a way to earn money while you’re out walking. Imagine, even better, I could tell you how to earn money whilst out shopping. Well with Job Spotter, this is a reality – so read on to find out more!
I’ve spent the past two years using Job Spotter, testing out the kind of income that this nifty little app can generate and judging whether it’s a worthwhile gig for home workers. My conclusion? It most certainly is!
IMPORTANT UPDATE 21st April 2020:
JobSpotter has suspended operations due to the virus pandemic. We will update this article once things are back to normal.
In the mean time, you can find lots of other side gig ideas here.
What is Job Spotter?
Job Spotter by Indeed is an app that allows you to earn money by taking photographs of job vacancies. It’s so simple to use that almost anyone can make money with Job Spotter.
The premise is simple – while you’re out and about, you take photos of any job vacancy signs that you see and submit them via the app. Indeed can then add the jobs to their database. Payment is awarded for every approved submission, based on a sliding scale. We’ll get to how much you can earn a little further down this review.
Getting Started
Registering for a Job Spotter account is simplicity itself. The app is available through the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Download it for free, create an account by entering a username and email address, and away you go.
It takes less than a minute to flick through the Job Spotter tutorial, which consists of four tips on how to ensure you get paid:
- Take a close-up photo of a help wanted sign so that it is clearly legible
- Take a picture of the outside of the shop, so that the company name is clearly visible
- Make sure you don’t include any people in either photograph
- Don’t take photos from inside your car.
The written submission guidelines are more detailed, but can still be read and absorbed in two or three minutes.
It’s worth noting that you also have to enable location services on your phone in order to use Job Spotter successfully. That’s because the app uses your location data in conjunction with the photos you submit in order to pinpoint the business with the vacancy.
How Easy Is Job Spotter to Use?
Job Spotter is incredibly easy to use. Every time you pop to the shops, keep a look out for help wanted signs. When you see one, open the app and tap submit photos. Take a photo of the hiring sign and tap the button. Do the same with the shopfront. You will then be shown your two images. Click “submit” to submit them, or “cancel” if you want to retake one of the photographs for any reason.
Your submission then wings its way electronically to Job Spotter and you’re ready to track down the next ‘help wanted’ sign. The whole process takes under 30 seconds.
Job Spotter Verify: A Discontinued Feature
Job Spotter Verify was the part of the app that allowed you to verify other people’s submissions. The app showed you a picture of a job vacancy and then of a storefront. If the job advert was legible and the shop matched the location description, you tapped ‘yes’ – if they didn’t, you tapped ‘no.’ As with everything about the Job Spotter app, the process was incredibly easy. Sadly, the verification function was removed in early 2019, so you can no longer verify Job Spotter submissions.
Job Spotter Map Function
At the same time as the Job Spotter verify function was removed, a map feature was introduced. The Job Spotter map allows you to view your past submissions by location. It shows up to 500 submissions covering the past 90 days. There’s a simple colour-coding system for the submissions shown:
- Green = approved
- Red = rejected
- Grey = pending
What’s particularly good about the map view is that it uses an exclamation mark to show up jobs that are eligible for resubmission. You can submit the same job in different calendar months, if it’s still being advertised, so the map function provides the ideal way to retrace your steps in order to find job adverts that are still there. Bear in mind, though, that scores (and therefore income) can differ significantly between original submissions and resubmissions.
Job Spotter: How Much Money Can You Make?
Job Spotter already has a big following in the US and the app’s top five users there all reportedly made the equivalent of more than $1,200 (£1,000) in a single year, with one user making $6,600 (£5,000).
One great feature of the app is that you can submit as many job opportunities as you can find. There’s no limit to how many submissions you can make and thus no limit to your potential earnings, other than the number of jobs available in your local area.
Unfortunately, that’s where we get to one of the issues with Job Spotter – if you work from home in a rural area then this app probably isn’t going to make you much money at all and you might want to look at alternative side work instead. However, for home workers who live in towns and cities and pop to the shops at lunchtime, or spend a day indulging in retail therapy at the weekend, Job Spotter offers excellent earning potential.
Payment is awarded based on a points system. Maximum points are awarded for a clearly focused photograph of an advert that:
- Is from a small business
- Includes the job title
- Confirms applications are accepted in person
Adverts for generic vacancies at large corporations are awarded far fewer points.
The type of advert you submit can make a big difference. I netted £2.68 ($3.56) across my first four jobs, which included a local tearoom and an independent bakery. However, my fourth submission (a part-time position at a national footwear chain) earned me just 4 pence ($0.05). Job Spotter is definitely all about local businesses when it comes to stacking up points.
I live in a very small town, with just over 7,000 residents, so there’s not an abundance of local shops available. In my first month of using the app, I racked up £3.23 ($4.29) while running my usual errands around town, for very little effort indeed.
Over the coming months, I used Job Spotter regularly in my home town, as well as in other towns and cities that I visited. Over the following eight months, I earned an additional £17.04 ($22.63). I cashed out and then in the eight months following that, I earned £22.23 ($29.52).
If I lived in a larger area, the earning potential would increase significantly. In a single day in Brighton, on England’s south coast, I built up around £8 ($10) thanks to the large number of independent stores that were looking for staff. The Wimbledon area of London, meanwhile, is around ten times the size of my little town and so offers ten times the earning potential. Users in large urban areas should comfortably be able to make $40 (£30) or more in their first month of using Job Spotter.
Top Tips
To maximise your Indeed Job Spotter pay, focus on independent stores rather than on national or international chains. The smaller the shop, the more you’ll add to your Job Spotter points value.
Remember, too, to use Job Spotter wherever you go. Whether travelling on business or pleasure, you can use the app while you’re out and about. Job Spotter countries include the USA, UK, Australia and Canada.
Reliability
As well as being simple to use, Job Spotter is also a very reliable and smooth-working app. Over the past 18 months, I’ve only experienced one incidence of the Job Spotter app not working and that was due to a network data outage rather than any kind of problem at Indeed’s end.
Job Spotter Review: How to Get Paid
When I first undertook this Job Spotter review, back in 2017, it took around 72 hours to verify the submissions that I made. Since then, the Job Spotter customer service team must have been busy, as the review process has speeded up significantly. Many submissions are now approved within just a few minutes.
You can review your submissions to see their progress via the “submissions” screen or the colour-coded points on the map. You can also check the “wallet” screen to see how much money you’ve racked up.
Once your submissions are approved, the money shows in your wallet. You can then redeem the money in exchange for an Amazon gift card. Once you cash out, your Amazon gift card arrives by email ‘within two weeks’ according to the app. When I first started using Job Spotter, the gift card arrived in just a few hours, but it now takes around three days.
Job Spotter Review: Conclusion
The only irritation I experienced when using the app was with three positions that were advertised at my local leisure centre at the same time. I photographed and submitted the three separate adverts, but Job Spotter rejected two of them as duplicates, even though they were for different positions and were shown on three separate notices. I was a little irked to discover that there’s no appeal process of Job Spotter contact option for rejections, but it was a minor irritation in the grand scheme of things.
Job Spotter is delightfully easy to use. Over the past 18 months, it has proven itself to be something that I keep on my phone and use whenever I happen to be in a city or even a small village that has a ‘help wanted’ sign. The speed of the process and the ease of everything from submitting photos to cashing out means that this is seriously easy money. Job Spotter won’t earn you enough to live on, but it can certainly generate a nice little bit of extra income each month for those who live in more populated areas.
Of course, if you prefer to make a little extra money without the effort of leaving the house, then there are still plenty of other options available to you. Testing websites and apps for money is another option you’ll definitely want to check out!
If you think Job Spotter is for you, you’ll find it here.
Louise became a freelancer by mistake after getting made redundant whilst living in a country with no jobs – but she hasn’t looked back since. She is committed to helping others pursue their freelancing goals and enjoy a happier work/life balance as a result.
2 of my gift cards have been pending for 19 days now. I emailed them twice but no reply at all. Is this common?
Not an issue we’ve personally had, no, but perhaps another reader might chime in…
Hi,
Just thought that I would mention that Job Spotter is now using Amazon Mechanical Turk for the verification process. I know you’ve written here about AMT before so I’m sure that this information may help someone.
Their requester name is “Job Spotter” Imagine that. 🙂
They have a qualification on their work and I don’t remember if it was a test or if they just grant it upon asking. They do monitor the results and will take your qualification (ability to access and do the work) if you’re not accurate enough.
Thanks for your site here and all you do to help people. We surely appreciate it.
Thanks! Interesting info too – I’ll mention it next time I update the MTurk review!
Can you get paid money instead of amazon gift cards. You take PayPal.
Only gift cards as far as I’m aware…