Universal Automation @universalautomation - Tumblr Blog

0.2.0 - fix infinite loop following changes to Universal Jobmatch

DWP/Monster made a minor change to the text in the block showing search parameters currently in use on the site. Universal Automation uses that part to check if all parameters requested in Options are correctly set. As a result of the change Universal Automation would enter infinite loop on the first page os search results and never apply for any jobs.

We fixed the issue. Chrome should update the extension automatically and after that you will be able to use it again!

UA seems to have stopped working correctly for me the past few days. It gets stuck in an infinite loop of "Searching of jobs" and doesn't apply for anything. Is it problem with UA itself or...?

DWP made some changes to the website in the last few days. They were not made to stop the extension. They made some design updates but the side effect is that the extension stopped working. we will update the extension as soon as possible.

Collect and analyse large numbers of jobs from Universal Jobmatch

Universal Jobmatch is in the news again because it's full of spam as it always has been. It's been known since the beginning there are loads of postings which are either spammy or outright scams. It's asolutely clear to anyone who has to use it that the vast majority of postings are not legitimate job offers posted on Universal Jobmatch directly. After all a website which hundrerds of thousands of people are forced to use, and not just read the job postings but also answer them no matter if they want or not, is an ideal traget for spammers and fraudsters.

How much rubbish is there exactly? After the recent C4 news segment DWP quitely removed 120,000 fake listings from it but that's the only time we've heard a specific number. We thought it would be a good idea to look at large sample of job posted on Universal Jobmatch and find out more. We built a simple Python script to scrape the website and store jobs in a local MySQL database. You can download it here:

https://bitbucket.org/halbhalb/ujmine

You can download and run the script, get some data and do yourown processing. We don't do any analysis ourselves yet. We have some ideas: counting how many jobs are reposted from third pary sites, identifying big websites duplicating their content on Universal Jobmatch, finding companies posting duplicates, obvious scams or zero hours contracts. Any other ideas welcome!

An authentic email we just received:

Good morning,

I am an employer based in [...] and have advertised 3 jobs on Universal Jobmatch this week. After 5 days we had 804 applications for 1 of our jobs.

My problem lies with the fact that this job is for 7.5 hours per week and is a cleaning role. It took our admin assistant nearly 2 days to review the applications and make all relevant contact with suitable applicants. Out of the 804 applications we received, only 10 were suitable for the job. These applicants had no knowledge of the job and were adamant they did not apply. Furthermore, a number of applicants were in full time employment and were not at all interested in looking for another job, let alone a 7.5 hour per week cleaning role!

I have since learned about your “Universal Automation” and how it applies for jobs for jobseekers automatically without any action required by the jobseeker. I would like to know what benefit your extension was meant to have on employers and how your creation can be used only for productive purposes and not as a time wasting, benefits box-ticking tool.

Yours,

Because the real problem here is you getting to many job applications and not unemployment, poverty, benefit sanctions...

What if I accidentaly get an interview?

Although some users may be hoping our extension will help them to find a job, we understand than many others simply use it to fulfil the requirements impose on them by the jobcentre. We encourage that.

Few people asked us what if they get an interview for a job that the extension applied for.

There is a number of conditions that allow you to refuse a job you found in your jobseeking activity. Here's a useful list of those conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If the job is a zero hours contract you can refuse it too.

As one person in the Welfare Action Gathering pointed out, there is also a simple way to minimize a chance of getting an interview. Upload a really bad CV!

Excluding jobs from application based on words filter

Version 0.1.9 released yesterday allows to specify a list of words that will stop the extension from applying for a particular job.

There is a new text field in the options screen called Excluded words and phrases. You can enter there a list of single words like apprenticeship or phrases containing spaces like zero hours. Before applying for any job in search results the extension will check if any of those words and phrases is present in the job tile or description, and will not apply if it finds them.

Many people asked us for this feature and we're happy to finally deliver it.

We also added a Print button to the report page and changed the messaging on the start page. Although we think it makes sense to provide Title and Where conditions, the extension will try to run the search if you don't, so the message about it has been changed to make that clearer.

Chrome will automatically update if you have the extension installed already. Otherwise install it from http://bit.ly/ujextension.

Searching without a job title

Some people reported that the extension shows a warning message if you do not specify a job title in search options even though Universal Jobmatch allows searching without a job title.

Even when the warning message is shown on the page where you start the automatic search process, the extension still allows you to click Start and will search and apply. Searching without a title specified will work.

We will soon update the messaging on that page to make it more clear.

everydaysanctioning

Welcome to Everyday Sanctioning, a Tumblr with the aim of sharing the stories behind the statistics.

We want you to submit your stories about being sanctioned. Impossible timing? Missed an appointment due to an interview? Absolutely no idea why your money was stopped in the first place? Whether...

We received a lot of positive feedback to our leaflet design so we decided to get some leaflets printed. We would like to distribute them to groups and individuals campaigning for welfare rights to help publicise our extension among those who are not so active on social media.

We will bring them to the Welfare Action Gathering on 15th February in London, where we will be runing a workshop on our extension. If you are coming and would like to get some let us know in advance.

For groups and individuals who are not based in London we are happy to post them to you at no cost. Please email us at [email protected].

News and announcements

Universal Automation extension has over 300 users according to Chrome Web Store Apps. We're very pleased that so many people find it useful. If you're using the extension please consider reviewing it. You can do that here

We have relaunched our website. We updated the instructions to reflect the changes to the extension over the last couple of months. We also put he demonstration video and the promotional leaflet on the website.

We will be running a workshop on using out extension in the Welfare Action Gathering on the 15th of February in London. Read more about this event here.

pdf for printing

http://automation.strikenow.org.uk/img/leaflet.pdf

0.1.6 - user interface improvements and bug fixes

Yesterday we published a new version of Universal Automation in Chrome Web Store.

Extension home screen now shows the search settings that will be used with a link to Options if you want to change them. It also shows a warning if you didn't set the account details or the minimum search parameters required. We detect if logging in works with the account details you provided and show a warning next time if it doesn't.

We improved look and feel of our screens. Most importantly we got rid of the black background which should improve readability a lot.

We fixed a bug which prevent search from working if job title contained a comma. Some of the job titles shown by Universal Jobmatch autosuggest have a comma, "Waiter, Waitress" for example. Those will now work.

If you have the extension installed already, Chrome will update it automatically. Otherwise you can install it from http://bit.ly/ujextension

Video demonstration how to install and use Universal Jobmatch Automation extension for Google Chrome browser.

Firefox version?

A couple of people asked if there will be a version of Universal Automation for Firefox. Unfortunately the answer is 'no'.

The way extensions are built is completely different for each browser. We chose Chrome because it looked the easiest and most feasible to do it with the skills we had. There is no way we can port what we did to Firefox or any other browser - we would have to do all the work from scratch.

Considering our resources are very limited, we think it's the best to focus on making the Chrome extension as good as possible. For the foreseeable there will be no version for Firefox or any other browser.

0.1.4 - bugfix release

We just published a new release in Chrome Web Store. Version 0.1.4 fixes a bug which caused an endless loop if you set the job type to Full time.

Thanks to Liverpool Claimaints Network for pointing out this bug.

#release

Bigger, better and easily installed from Chrome Web Store

We released Universal Automation extension in Chrome Web Store today. Use the link below to go to the store and install the extension with a single click from there:

bit.ly/ujextension

This new version contains a number of important improvements:

You can now set all Universal Jobmatch search parameters in the extension options. We added distance, posting date and job type.

The extension will apply for jobs on all pages of search results, not just the first one. To control that, you can set the maximum number of jobs the extension will apply for in a single session.

When the extension finishes applying, you can see a report with all jobs that were applied for.

There is a new delay option. It can be used to slow down automated applications so that the extension behaves more like a human using Universal Jobmatch.

Download Universal Automation from Chrome Web Store and enjoy using it!

If you already installed the previous version manually, you will have to uninstall it before you can use the new one.

Roadmap

We received a lot of feedback after the launch, both positive messages and requests for improvements. Based on that we came up with a list of improvements we will be working on. Here they are:

Making the behaviour more human-like. Currently the extensions executes all actions on the UJ site as soon as each page loads. We will add a random delay to each click. This way job applications will not be as quick and regular as they are at the moment.

Applying for all jobs in the search results, not just those on the first page like it is at the moment.

Refining the results by distance and posting date: 'Only jobs within X miles' and 'only jobs posted in the last X days'. Those are two additional search options on the site that are not accessible to the extension yet.

Excluding jobs from application process based on key words. To prevent responding to posts which are obviously scams, pyramid schemes, zero hours contract, etc. we will add a blacklist of forbidden words. If any of those words is in the job title or description, the extension will not apply to it.

That's it for now. Keep an eye on this blog and our twitter for updates.

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