Gumtree AU Job Market Monitor

An Apify Actor for monitoring job listing availability on Gumtree Australia. It's built as a reliable monitor, not a full scraper, focusing on providing consistent visibility into job categories even when the site restricts access.

Overview

This Actor checks a single Gumtree AU job category page per run. Its primary goal is to report whether the page is accessible and show the latest available data. It always returns an output, preserving the last known state in Apify KV Store between runs if the site becomes temporarily blocked.

Key Features

• Monitoring-First Design: Prioritizes reliable access detection over aggressive data extraction.
• Always Returns Data: Never returns an empty result. Shows live data when accessible, or the last known state when blocked.
• State Persistence: Uses Apify KV Store to remember the last successful update across runs.
• Honest Reporting: Clearly indicates accessible or blocked status without fabricating results.
• Enterprise Logic: Maintains a last_known_update date, which persists during blocks until new access is gained.

How to Use

Input

Provide a single input to the Actor:

• gumtreeSearchUrl (Required): The full URL of the Gumtree AU job category page you want to monitor.
  • Example: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-construction-jobs/k0c3102
• baseline_date (Optional): An initial date (format: YYYY-MM-DD) to show as the "last known update" before the Actor successfully accesses the page for the first time. This date remains until a real update is detected.

Scheduling

For stable, long-term monitoring:
* Recommended: Run every 6 to 12 hours.
* Possible but volatile: Running every 60 minutes is possible but will likely result in more frequent temporary blocks (403 errors), which is normal behavior for Gumtree AU.

Input & Output

Input Example

{
  "gumtreeSearchUrl": "https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-construction-jobs/k0c3102",
  "baseline_date": "2025-12-12"
}

Output

The Actor always returns one monitoring record. The structure varies based on access.

Example Output — When Accessible:

{
  "state": "accessible",
  "last_known_update": "2025-12-20",
  "job_count": 124,
  "sample_jobs": [
    {
      "job_title": "Carpenter",
      "company": "ABC Constructions",
      "location": "Sydney NSW"
    }
  ],
  "checked_at": "2025-12-20T02:10:00Z"
}

Example Output — When Blocked:

{
  "state": "blocked",
  "last_known_update": "2025-12-12",
  "job_count": null,
  "sample_jobs": [],
  "checked_at": "2025-12-13T02:26:17Z",
  "note": "Last known data shown. Site temporarily blocked."
}

Output Field Guide

• state: accessible (live data shown) or blocked (site returned a 403, showing last known data).
• last_known_update: Always present. Indicates the freshness of the job_count and sample_jobs data.
• job_count: The number of jobs listed. Only present when state is accessible; otherwise null.
• sample_jobs: An array containing up to 3 sample job listings (title, company, location). Empty when state is blocked.
• checked_at: The timestamp of the last check.

Limitations & Notes

• Gumtree AU employs IP-based and behavioral rate limiting. Temporary blocks (403) are an expected part of operation, especially with frequent runs.
• This Actor does not attempt to bypass CAPTCHAs or other protections. It is designed for honest, stable, long-term monitoring.
• It does not guarantee continuous access. The design assumes periodic blocking will occur.

Use Cases: Job market monitoring, change detection for alerts, populating business dashboards with availability data, and tracking job counts for specific Australian market categories.