Biggiz - African Job Board

A full-stack MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) job board application designed for job seekers and employers across Africa.

Features

For Job Seekers

• Browse jobs without creating an account
• Search and filter jobs by category, location, and keywords
• View detailed job descriptions
• No registration required for browsing

For Job Posters

• Create an account to post jobs
• Post detailed job listings with:
  • Job title, description, and requirements
  • Company information
  • Salary details
  • Contact information
  • Application URLs
• View all posted jobs in personal dashboard
• Edit and delete own job postings
• Track job views

For Administrators

• Access admin panel with statistics
• Manage job categories (add, edit, delete)
• View all jobs in the system
• Activate/deactivate jobs
• Delete any job posting

Technology Stack

• Frontend: React 18, React Router, Axios
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
• Password Security: bcryptjs

Project Structure

biggiz/
├── backend/
│   ├── models/
│   │   ├── User.js
│   │   ├── Job.js
│   │   └── Category.js
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── auth.js
│   │   ├── jobs.js
│   │   ├── categories.js
│   │   └── admin.js
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   └── auth.js
│   ├── server.js
│   ├── seedCategories.js
│   └── package.json
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   ├── pages/
│   │   ├── context/
│   │   └── App.js
│   └── package.json
└── README.md

Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas)
• npm or yarn

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the backend directory:

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/biggiz
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key_here_change_in_production
NODE_ENV=development

4. Start MongoDB (if running locally):

# On Windows
net start MongoDB

# On macOS/Linux
sudo systemctl start mongod

5. Seed the database with categories:

node seedCategories.js

6. Start the backend server:

npm run dev

The backend server will run on http://localhost:5000

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the frontend directory:

cd frontend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the frontend directory (optional):

REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

4. Start the development server:

npm start

The frontend will run on http://localhost:3000

Usage

Creating an Admin Account

To create an admin account, you'll need to manually update the user role in MongoDB:

1. Register a regular account through the website
2. Connect to MongoDB and update the user:

db.users.updateOne(
  { email: "your-email@example.com" },
  { $set: { role: "admin" } }
)

Job Categories

The application comes pre-seeded with 100+ job categories including:

• Accounting and Finance
• Information Technology
• Healthcare
• Engineering
• Marketing
• Education
• And many more...

Categories can be managed through the admin panel.

API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register - Register a new user
• POST /api/auth/login - Login user
• GET /api/auth/me - Get current user (protected)

Jobs

• GET /api/jobs - Get all jobs (public, supports pagination and filters)
• GET /api/jobs/:id - Get single job (public)
• POST /api/jobs - Create a job (protected)
• GET /api/jobs/user/my-jobs - Get user's jobs (protected)
• PUT /api/jobs/:id - Update job (protected, owner only)
• DELETE /api/jobs/:id - Delete job (protected, owner only)

Categories

• GET /api/categories - Get all active categories (public)

Admin

• GET /api/admin/stats - Get dashboard statistics (admin only)
• GET /api/admin/categories - Get all categories (admin only)
• POST /api/admin/categories - Create category (admin only)
• PUT /api/admin/categories/:id - Update category (admin only)
• DELETE /api/admin/categories/:id - Delete category (admin only)
• GET /api/admin/jobs - Get all jobs (admin only)
• PUT /api/admin/jobs/:id/status - Toggle job status (admin only)
• DELETE /api/admin/jobs/:id - Delete job (admin only)

Features in Detail

Job Posting

• Rich job descriptions
• Multiple employment types (Full-time, Part-time, Contract, etc.)
• Salary ranges with currency options
• Requirements and responsibilities lists
• Contact information
• Application URLs

Search & Filter

• Text search across job titles, descriptions, and companies
• Filter by category
• Filter by location
• Pagination support

User Dashboard

• View all posted jobs
• See job statistics (views, status)
• Quick access to edit/delete jobs
• Post new jobs

Admin Panel

• Dashboard with key statistics
• Category management (CRUD operations)
• Job management (view, activate/deactivate, delete)
• User management capabilities

Security Features

• Password hashing with bcryptjs
• JWT-based authentication
• Protected routes (authentication middleware)
• Role-based access control (admin vs. user)
• Input validation using express-validator

Future Enhancements

Potential features to add:

• Email notifications
• Job application tracking
• Resume upload
• Saved jobs/bookmarks
• Advanced search filters
• Job alerts
• Company profiles
• Analytics dashboard

License

This project is open source and available for educational purposes.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.