Job Portal

A full-stack job portal web application with role-based access for Candidates, Employers, and Admins. Built with React, Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19 (Vite) + Tailwind CSS
Backend	Node.js + Express.js
Database	PostgreSQL
Auth	JWT (access token + refresh token via httpOnly cookie)

Features

Candidate:

• Browse jobs with search, location filter, type filter, and pagination
• View full job details and apply with one click
• Track application status (applied → reviewed → accepted/rejected)
• Edit profile (name, skills, resume URL, bio)

Employer:

• Post, edit, and delete job listings
• View applicants for each listing with full profile info
• Update applicant status via inline dropdown

Admin:

• View all registered users
• Delete any job listing

Auth & Security:

• JWT access token (15min, in-memory) + refresh token (7d, httpOnly cookie)
• Passwords hashed with bcrypt (10 salt rounds)
• Role-based route protection on both frontend and backend
• CORS origin configurable via environment variable

ER Diagram

┌──────────────┐       ┌──────────────┐
│    users     │       │   profiles   │
├──────────────┤       ├──────────────┤
│ id (PK)      │──1:1──│ id (PK)      │
│ name         │       │ user_id (FK) │
│ email (UQ)   │       │ skills       │
│ password_hash│       │ resume_url   │
│ role         │       │ bio          │
│ created_at   │       └──────────────┘
└──────┬───────┘
       │
       │1:N                    1:N
       ▼                        ▼
┌──────────────┐       ┌────────────────┐
│    jobs      │       │  applications  │
├──────────────┤       ├────────────────┤
│ id (PK)      │──1:N──│ id (PK)        │
│ employer_id  │       │ candidate_id   │
│ title        │       │ job_id (FK)    │
│ description  │       │ status         │
│ location     │       │ applied_at     │
│ type         │       │ UQ(cand, job)  │
│ deadline     │       └────────────────┘
│ created_at   │
└──────────────┘

Project Structure

/client                    → React frontend (Vite)
  /src
    /components            → Navbar, ProtectedRoute
    /context               → AuthContext (session management)
    /pages                 → All page components
    /utils                 → api.js (fetch wrapper with 401 retry)

/server                    → Express backend
  /config                  → db.js, init.sql, seed.sql
  /controllers             → Business logic per feature
  /middleware              → JWT auth middleware
  /models                  → PostgreSQL queries (parameterized)
  /routes                  → API endpoint definitions
  server.js                → Entry point

.env.example               → Environment variable template

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL 14+

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/job-portal.git
cd job-portal

2. Set up environment variables

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your PostgreSQL credentials and secrets

3. Create and seed the database

psql -U postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE jobportal;"
psql -U postgres -d jobportal -f server/config/init.sql
psql -U postgres -d jobportal -f server/config/seed.sql

Seed data: 1 admin, 2 employers, 3 candidates, 5 jobs, 6 applications. All seed users have password: password123

Email	Role
admin@jobportal.com	admin
hr@techcorp.com	employer
jobs@startupxyz.com	employer
alice@email.com	candidate
bob@email.com	candidate
charlie@email.com	candidate

4. Install dependencies & run

# Terminal 1 — Backend
cd server
npm install
npm run dev

# Terminal 2 — Frontend
cd client
npm install
npm run dev

The backend runs on http://localhost:5000 and frontend on http://localhost:5173.

API Endpoints

Auth

Method	Route	Description	Auth Required
POST	/api/auth/register	Register new user	No
POST	/api/auth/login	Login, get tokens	No
POST	/api/auth/refresh	Refresh access token	Cookie
POST	/api/auth/logout	Clear refresh cookie	No
GET	/api/auth/me	Get current user	Yes

Jobs

Method	Route	Description	Auth Required
GET	/api/jobs	List jobs (paginated, filterable)	No
GET	/api/jobs/:id	Get single job	No
POST	/api/jobs	Create a job listing	Employer
PUT	/api/jobs/:id	Update a job listing	Employer (owner)
DELETE	/api/jobs/:id	Delete a job listing	Employer/Admin
GET	/api/jobs/employer/me	Get employer's own listings	Employer

Pagination: GET /api/jobs?page=1&limit=10&search=react&location=bangalore&type=full-time

Response includes: { success, data, pagination: { page, limit, total, pages } }

Applications

Method	Route	Description	Auth Required
POST	/api/applications	Apply to a job	Candidate
GET	/api/applications/me	Get my applications	Candidate
GET	/api/applications/job/:jobId	Get applicants for a job	Employer (owner)
PUT	/api/applications/:id/status	Update application status	Employer (owner)

Profile

Method	Route	Description	Auth Required
GET	/api/profile	Get own profile	Yes
PUT	/api/profile	Update profile	Yes

Admin

Method	Route	Description	Auth Required
GET	/api/admin/users	List all users	Admin
DELETE	/api/admin/jobs/:id	Delete any job	Admin

Security Notes

JWT Token Strategy:

• Access token → stored in JavaScript memory (not localStorage) — short-lived (15 min)
• Refresh token → stored in httpOnly, secure, sameSite cookie — long-lived (7 days)
• This mitigates XSS attacks since the refresh token is inaccessible to JavaScript
• On access token expiry, the frontend automatically attempts a silent refresh via the cookie

Known limitation: In-memory token is lost on page refresh, requiring a re-authentication via the refresh cookie. This is an intentional security tradeoff.

Deployment

Backend (Railway or Render)

1. Push to GitHub
2. Connect repo to Railway or Render
3. Set environment variables (DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, JWT_REFRESH_SECRET, CLIENT_URL)
4. Deploy — use npm start as the start command

Database (Railway or Supabase)

1. Create a PostgreSQL instance on Railway or Supabase
2. Run init.sql and optionally seed.sql against the remote database
3. Copy the connection string to your DATABASE_URL env var

Frontend (Vercel)

1. Connect the /client directory to Vercel
2. Set the API URL in the frontend code or as an env var
3. Deploy

Live Demo: [Add your deployed URL here]

Screenshots

Add screenshots of your running application here:

• Login page
• Job listings with search and filters
• Job detail page
• Candidate dashboard (application tracking)
• Employer dashboard (job management)
• Applicants view with status management
• Admin panel

Future Improvements

• Email verification on registration
• File upload for resumes (S3/Cloudinary)
• Password reset via email
• WebSocket notifications for application status changes
• More granular admin controls (ban users, analytics)
• Unit and integration tests (Jest + Supertest)
• Rate limiting on auth endpoints

License

MIT