USASearch > APIs for Developers > Jobs API
Helping job seekers land a job with the government.
Overview
The unemployment rate has hovered around 8 percent since early 2012. So, not surprisingly, many people are hitting the web to search for jobs.
Federal, state, and local government agencies are hiring and have thousands of job openings across the country.
This Jobs API allows you to tap into a list of current jobs openings with the government. Jobs are searchable by keyword, location, agency, schedule, or any combination of these.
This API is great for job websites or applications, job banks, and career counseling and placement applications.
Using the API
This Jobs API accepts a GET request.
Jobs are searchable by keyword, location, agency, schedule, or any combination of these.
The base URL is http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?parameter
Sample API requests follow.
All nursing jobs
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs
Nursing jobs in NY
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs+in+ny
Nursing jobs with a state government agency
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs&tags=state
Nursing jobs with a federal government agency
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs&tags=federal
Nursing jobs with Veterans Affairs in NY
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs+with+veterans+affairs+in+ny
Part-time nursing jobs with Veterans Affairs in NY
http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=parttime+nursing+jobs+with+veterans+affairs+in+ny
Parameters
Six parameters are accepted: (1) query, (2) organization_id, (3) hl [highlighting], (4) size, (5) from, and (6) tags. Only query is required.
Query
Attempts to extract as much "signal" as possible from the input text. Handles word variants, so a search on "nursing jobs" will find a job titled "nurse practitioner" and "RN." When parts of the query parameter are used to search against the position title, the results are ordered by relevance. When no query parameter is specified, they are ordered by date with the most recent listed first.
Sample query formats follow.
All jobs (by date)
- jobs
- positions
- vacancies
- opportunities
- postings
Location-based (by date)
- jobs in fulton
- jobs in fulton, md
- jobs in fulton, maryland
- jobs in md
- pentagon jobs
- jobs fayetteville
- fayetteville nc jobs
- jobs atlanta georgia
Agency-based (by date)
- job opportunities at the cia
- jobs at the treasury dept
- tsa job openings
- va jobs # will match jobs in Virginia
Keyword-based (by relevance)
- nursing jobs
- summer internship position
Schedule-based (by date)
- part-time jobs
- full-time positions
Combinations (by relevance)
- part-time security guard job openings at the tsa in los angeles, ca
Organization_id
Specifies which federal, state, or local agency to use as a filter.
For federal agencies, the ID is based on USAJobs' agency schema. Two letter codes are used to span entire departments, while four letter codes are generally used for independent agencies or agencies within a department.
For state and local agencies, a sample of the format follows.
State of Virginia
US-VA
State of Virginia Department of Taxation
US-VA:DEPT-TAX
Fairfax County, VA
US-VA:COUNTY-FAIRFAX
Fairfax County Sheriff
US-VA:COUNTY-FAIRFAX:SHERIFF
City of Fairfax, VA
US-VA:COUNTY-FAIRFAX:CITY-FAIRFAX
If you specify an organization_id in your API call but the searcher types in another agency, the searchers' agency overrides the organization_id parameter. For example, VA jobs are returned when you specify Air Force jobs, but the searcher looks for jobs at the VA (http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=jobs+at+the+va&organization_id=AF).
Hl [highlighting]
No highlighting is included by default. Use 'hl=1' to highlight terms in the position title that match terms in the user's search. Highlighted terms are surrounded with <em> tags.
Size
Specifies how many results are returned (up to 100 at a time).
From
Specifies the starting record.
Tags
Specifies the level of government. Current tags are federal, state, county, and city.
Data Sources
Data are normalized across government job listings. Federal government jobs are from USAJobs. State and local government jobs are from a variety of sources.
Are you from a federal, state, or local government agency? Are we missing your jobs data? E-mail us at USASearch@gsa.gov to let us know where you publish your jobs data. We'll accept your jobs data via FTP or any machine-readable format (such as an RSS feed or API).
What it Returns
Below is a sample JSON response for http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs+with+veterans+affairs+in+albany+ny.
[
{
id: "usajobs:340537800",
position_title: "Nursing Assistant Float Pool",
organization_name: "Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration",
rate_interval_code: "PA",
minimum: 31315,
maximum: 40706,
start_date: "2013-03-27",
end_date: "2013-05-31",
locations: [
"Albany, NY"
],
url: "https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/340537800"
},
{
id: "usajobs:342782900",
position_title: "Registered Nurse - Endoscopy",
organization_name: "Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration",
rate_interval_code: "PA",
minimum: 0,
maximum: 0,
start_date: "2013-05-02",
end_date: "2013-05-13",
locations: [
"Albany, NY"
],
url: "https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/342782900"
}
]
Code Samples
We "eat our own dog food" and use this Jobs API to display the job openings on the government websites that use USASearch.
See the sample results page below that shows current jobs openings across the Department of Homeland Security for a search on security jobs on DHS.gov.
Open Source Code
The server code that runs this API is on Github. If you're a Rails developer, fork our Jobs Server API repo to add features (such as additional datasets) or fix bugs.
Better yet, send us a pull request to contribute your changes to our project and improve this API for everyone who is using it.
Feedback
E-mail us at USASearch@gsa.gov with any suggestions about what you'd like to see in the next version of API.
Terms of Use
By accessing the Jobs API, you agree to USA.gov's Terms of Service for Developer Resources.