Review: Job Spotter – Earn cash with your feet and a smartphone

UPDATE, April 2020: R.I.P. Job Spotter app. Sadly, this service has now been discontinued. I used it for a total of 16 months in USA, New Zealand and Australia – earning USD$1,428 (approx. AUD$2,050)! I’ll think of it fondly as my favourite side hustle so far.

Want to get paid while walking around exploring your city with your smartphone? Read on!

Welcome to Job Spotter

For the recent 10 weeks of my travels around the USA on mini-retirement, I have enjoyed using a side hustle income app called Job Spotter.

Created by recruitment site Indeed.com, Job Spotter users take photos of ‘Help Wanted’ and other hiring signs in store windows, in exchange for payment of up to US$1.50 per submission! Pretty great, huh?

Indeed uses the photos submitted through Job Spotter to expand their listings of jobs on their website, featuring these ‘hidden’ jobs that would be unlikely to get an online presence otherwise. I have been amused to find a number of my own photos make it onto the site!

Job Spotter is currently available in USA, Australia, Canada, UK and selected European countries. Get on board!

How much can you earn?

Job Spotter claims to provide up to $1.50 in payment for each submission. In reality, I have typically found my submissions to get between $0.10-$0.40 for large corporate chains and $0.60-$1.20 for local small businesses (think family-run pizza joints, Asian restaurants, etc).

Each submission is rewarded with points, valued at $0.01 per 1 point. I am currently using the USA app which allows redemption of points for Amazon gift cards at any time. In my opinion, Amazon credit is as good as cash, as it can be exchanged for e-gift cards on groceries, restaurants, accommodation and transport – or even for Visa gift cards at a small additional fee. So far, I have claimed e-gift cards for Airbnb, Uber, Whole Foods, Safeway, Chipotle and Starbucks (note: these gift cards are typically purchased for $25 minimum).

In Australia, Job Spotter pays out balances directly as cash to your bank account, which is even better!

During my first 10 weeks of use, I’m pleased to report that I earned US$319.82 (~AU$434.23)! That’s about US$32 a week while doing the city exploration by foot that I would be doing anyway. I was fortunate to be passing through some large cities in the USA during that time, so it’s unlikely I’ll keep up that pace – but with even half that in earnings per week at US$16, I’d have received US$992 (~AU$1,347) at the end of the year’s use!

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Getting started

After downloading the Job Spotter app through the iTunes or Google Play, then a quick account setup process with email and username, you’re ready to start getting paid for your pictures!

Found your first ‘Help Wanted’ sign? Here are a few pointers when making your first submission:

• You’ll need to take the photos within the app, so don’t try to take pics on your phone’s camera and submit them later – it won’t work! This is because photos are geo-tagged automatically via the app, linking the pics to the business address for Indeed’s job listings.
• You need to take two photos for each submission: 1) A clear photo of the hiring sign. 2) A photo of the storefront with the name of the business clearly indicated. Then click Submit!
• The terminology on the sign can vary widely; as long as it is clear that a job is being advertised. You might see ‘Help Wanted’, ‘Hiring’, ‘Personnel Wanted’, or all sorts of variations on the theme.
• The in-app camera doesn’t allow for zoom has a limited zoom range (new!), so you are going to have to get close to the signs, rather than attempt a lazy photo from across the street.
• You can’t take photos from your car, as they’ll be rejected (on safety grounds, plus likely also for the reason above).
• Taking photos vertically or horizontally is fine. Don’t worry if you can’t rotate the previewed image before submitting; it will still be accepted.
• You can’t take photos with easily recognisable people in them. (Note: Sometimes hiring signs themselves have photos on them. Job Spotter blurs those faces automatically!)
• You can only take photos at an individual business once every 30 days, or your submission will be marked as a duplicate and not earn any points. Similarly, you can’t take photos at the same time as another user for a given business (within the same hour or so).

There is also a ‘verification’ feature in the app which gives you points for confirming the accuracy of other submissions. Having found it takes about 2 minutes of verifying images to earn 10 points = $0.10, this rate of $3/hr isn’t worth the tedium for me – though might be fine for someone to do while watching TV, on the bus, etc.

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Pros

• It is easy for anyone to start and earn credit quickly! Once you find the signs, you can take and submit the pics in under 10 seconds.
• It gets you out and about, exploring different walking routes and parts of your local area.
• The app doesn’t appear to use excessive mobile internet data.
• Using the app feels game-like, kinda like a scavenger hunt or a more useful Pokemon Go! (Is that still a thing?)
• You can combine using Job Spotter with outdoor exercise, such as achieving your step goals each day. Read my other post on apps that will pay you for your steps!
• Having an interest in improving my general photography skills, using the Job Spotter app has made me more comfortable in physically moving in closer for pictures (rather than lazily relying on zoom all the time)!

Cons

• Using the app a lot can drain your phone’s battery quickly, so it’s worth carrying an external battery pack if you plan on going for a long sign-hunting session.
• The frequent stopping to take pics could get annoying for those you are walking with! It’s a good idea to do this on your own or with a patient friend or family member.
• It can be hard to switch off from seeing signs everywhere, which can be FOMO-inducing if you can’t photograph them all! Also, I found myself getting mildly annoyed early on at the wasted opportunities when I needed to backtrack down the same streets I’d already explored…
• Having business owners or passing strangers see you taking pics can feel awkward at first, but I quickly got over this when I saw the credit start to roll in! I have had a number of shop staff give me spiels about the jobs when they’ve noticed my interest. I usually nod politely and say I’m forwarding the photo to a friend (aka. random internet stranger).

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Tips

• Visiting clusters of independently-owned businesses can quickly make bank; eg. Little Italy, Chinatown and other restaurant precincts.
• Shopping malls are useful to find a bunch of signs in a small area, though photos of signs at larger chain stores typically receive lower points.
• When in doubt of a sign’s eligibility, submit it anyway! I have taken photos in local Chinatowns after making reasonable guesses that I was looking at a hiring sign when the only recognisable English characters were an email address and phone number.  Even if you can’t read them, having those signs listed online will help those relevant job seekers.
• Once you get an eye for it, you can quickly spot signs even across the street and be able to assess how valuable that sign will likely be in points – then you can decide whether it’s worth your time to cross the road for the pic!
• If you notice your pictures have been attributed to the incorrect store, there is a quick one-click ‘Wrong Business’ button which flags your submission for review.

I use Job Spotter daily now I’ve discovered it and I’ve been singing its praises to other travellers and side hustle fans.

Let me know your experience with Job Spotter or any other fun/easy side hustles in the comments below.