CareerConnect Job Portal

CareerConnect is a comprehensive PHP-based job application portal that enables job seekers to browse and apply for positions while providing administrators with powerful tools to manage job listings and applications through a secure dashboard interface.

🚀 Technology Stack

Backend: PHP 8.0+ with PDO for database operations
Database: MySQL/MariaDB with foreign key constraints
Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+)
Security: Password hashing with PHP's password_hash(), session management
File Handling: Secure resume upload with validation
UI Framework: Font Awesome icons, responsive CSS Grid/Flexbox

🌐 Features

🎯 Public Side

Job Browsing: View all open job listings with pagination
Advanced Search: Filter jobs by title, location, skills, and salary range
Job Details: Comprehensive job information including requirements and deadlines
Application System: Apply to jobs with resume upload (PDF support)
Responsive Design: Mobile-first responsive layout
Real-time Stats: Dashboard showing total jobs and applications

🛠 Admin Panel

Secure Authentication: Login/logout system with session management
Dashboard Analytics: Real-time statistics for jobs and applications
Job Management: Create, edit, delete, and toggle job status (open/closed)
Application Management: View all applicants with detailed information
Resume Downloads: Direct download of applicant resumes
Status Management: Approve, reject, or keep applications pending
CSV Export: Export application data for external analysis
Bulk Operations: Manage multiple jobs and applications efficiently

📁 Project Structure

job-portal/
├── admin/                   # Admin frontend interface
│   ├── dashboard.html       # Main admin dashboard
│   ├── login.html          # Admin login page
│   └── js/
│       └── admin.js        # Admin panel JavaScript
├── admin_api/              # Admin backend APIs
│   ├── auth_check.php      # Authentication verification
│   ├── create_job.php      # Job creation endpoint
│   ├── delete_job.php      # Job deletion endpoint
│   ├── export_applicants.php # CSV export functionality
│   ├── get_applicants.php  # Fetch applications data
│   ├── get_job.php         # Single job retrieval
│   ├── get_jobs.php        # Jobs listing for admin
│   ├── login.php           # Admin login handler
│   ├── logout.php          # Session termination
│   ├── toggle_status.php   # Job status toggle
│   ├── update_application_status.php # Application status updates
│   └── update_job.php      # Job modification endpoint
├── backend/                # Public-facing APIs
│   ├── apply.php           # Job application submission
│   ├── get_job.php         # Public job details
│   └── get_jobs.php        # Public jobs listing
├── includes/               # Configuration and utilities
│   ├── config.php          # Application configuration
│   └── db.php              # Database connection setup
├── public/                 # Public frontend
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── style.css       # Main stylesheet
│   ├── js/
│   │   └── app.js          # Public-side JavaScript
│   ├── index.html          # Homepage
│   └── job_detail.html     # Job details page
├── uploads/                # File storage
│   └── resumes/            # Resume uploads directory
├── database.sql            # Database schema and sample data
└── README.md               # Project documentation

🗄️ Database Schema

The application uses three main tables with proper relationships:

Tables Overview

admins - Administrator accounts
- id (Primary Key)
- username (Unique)
- password (Hashed with password_hash())
jobs - Job listings
- id (Primary Key)
- title, description, location, skills
- salary (Decimal), deadline (Date)
- status (ENUM: 'open', 'closed')
- created_at (Timestamp)
applications - Job applications
- id (Primary Key)
- job_id (Foreign Key → jobs.id)
- full_name, email, phone
- resume (File path)
- applied_at (Timestamp)
- status (ENUM: 'pending', 'approved', 'rejected')
- Unique constraint on (job_id, email)

⚙️ Technical Requirements

Minimum Requirements

PHP: 8.0+ (recommended) or 7.4+ (minimum)
MySQL: 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
Apache: 2.4+ with mod_rewrite enabled
PHP Extensions: PDO, PDO_MySQL, fileinfo, session
Disk Space: 100MB+ for uploads
Memory: 128MB+ PHP memory limit

Development Environment

XAMPP: 8.0+ (includes Apache, MySQL, PHP)
Alternative: WAMP, MAMP, or Docker with LAMP stack
Browser: Modern browser with JavaScript enabled
Internet: Required for Font Awesome CDN

🚀 Setup Instructions

1. Environment Setup

Option A: Using XAMPP

# Download and install XAMPP from https://www.apachefriends.org/
# Start Apache and MySQL services

Option B: Manual Setup

# Ensure Apache, MySQL, and PHP are installed and configured
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl start mysql

2. Project Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourname/job-portal.git

# Or download and extract to your web server directory
# For XAMPP: C:\xampp\htdocs\job-portal
# For Linux: /var/www/html/job-portal

3. Database Configuration

Step 1: Create Database

-- Via phpMyAdmin or MySQL CLI
CREATE DATABASE job_portal CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;

Step 2: Import Schema

# Via phpMyAdmin: Import database.sql file
# Or via MySQL CLI:
mysql -u root -p job_portal < database.sql

Step 3: Verify Tables

USE job_portal;
SHOW TABLES;
-- Should show: admins, applications, jobs

4. Configuration Setup

Update configuration files with your environment settings:

includes/config.php

<?php
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_NAME', 'job_portal');
define('DB_USER', 'root');        // Your MySQL username
define('DB_PASS', '');            // Your MySQL password
define('UPLOAD_PATH', __DIR__ . '/../uploads/resumes/');
?>

5. File Permissions

# Set proper permissions for upload directory
chmod 755 uploads/
chmod 755 uploads/resumes/

# For Linux/Mac, ensure web server can write
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data uploads/

6. Access the Application

Public Site: http://localhost/job-portal/public/
Admin Panel: http://localhost/job-portal/admin/login.html

🔐 Admin Access & Security

Default Admin Account

The database includes a pre-configured admin account:

Username: admin
Password: admin123 (hashed with password_hash())

Creating Additional Admin Accounts

-- Add new admin (password will be hashed automatically by the application)
INSERT INTO admins (username, password) 
VALUES ('newadmin', '$2y$10$OEWlg5spFKHpuhdPDN9E3e4/jyF01DDSA2BAGHEnVy1bU56U9pgBm');

Security Features

Password Hashing: Uses PHP's password_hash() with bcrypt
Session Management: Secure session handling with regeneration
File Upload Security:
- File type validation (PDF only for resumes)
- File size limits
- Secure file naming to prevent conflicts
SQL Injection Protection: All queries use prepared statements
XSS Prevention: Input sanitization and output escaping

📡 API Documentation

Public APIs

Get Jobs List

GET /backend/get_jobs.php
Response: JSON array of open jobs

Get Job Details

GET /backend/get_job.php?id={job_id}
Response: JSON object with job details

Submit Application

POST /backend/apply.php
Form Data: job_id, full_name, email, phone, resume (file)
Response: JSON success/error message

Admin APIs

Authentication Check

GET /admin_api/auth_check.php
Response: {"authenticated": boolean}

Get All Jobs (Admin)

GET /admin_api/get_jobs.php
Response: JSON array of all jobs with status

Create Job

POST /admin_api/create_job.php
Form Data: title, description, location, skills, salary, deadline
Response: JSON success/error message

Update Job

POST /admin_api/update_job.php
Form Data: id, title, description, location, skills, salary, deadline
Response: JSON success/error message

Get Applications

GET /admin_api/get_applicants.php
Response: JSON array of all applications with job details

Update Application Status

POST /admin_api/update_application_status.php
Form Data: id, status (pending/approved/rejected)
Response: JSON success/error message

Export Applications

GET /admin_api/export_applicants.php
Response: CSV file download

🚀 Production Deployment

Server Requirements

Web Server: Apache 2.4+ or Nginx 1.18+
PHP: 8.0+ with required extensions
Database: MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.5+
SSL Certificate: Recommended for production
Backup Strategy: Regular database and file backups

Deployment Steps

Server Setup

# Update server packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

# Install LAMP stack
sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php8.0 php8.0-mysql php8.0-mbstring

Security Configuration

# Secure MySQL installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw enable

Application Deployment

# Upload files to web directory
# Update config.php with production database credentials
# Set proper file permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/job-portal
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/job-portal
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/job-portal/uploads

SSL Setup (Recommended)

# Using Let's Encrypt
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Database Connection Failed

Error: Database connection failed: SQLSTATE[HY000] [1045] Access denied
Solution: Check database credentials in includes/config.php

File Upload Issues

Error: Failed to upload resume
Solutions:
- Check upload directory permissions (755 or 775)
- Verify PHP upload_max_filesize setting
- Ensure file is PDF format and under size limit

Admin Login Problems

Error: Invalid credentials
Solutions:
- Verify admin account exists in database
- Check password hash in database
- Clear browser cache and cookies

Session Issues

Error: Session expired or authentication failed
Solutions:
- Check PHP session configuration
- Verify session directory permissions
- Clear browser cookies

Debug Mode

Enable error reporting for development:

// Add to top of PHP files for debugging
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

Log Files

Check server logs for detailed error information:

# Apache error log
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

# PHP error log
tail -f /var/log/php/error.log

🤝 Contributing

Development Guidelines

Code Standards
- Follow PSR-12 coding standards for PHP
- Use meaningful variable and function names
- Comment complex logic and algorithms
- Maintain consistent indentation (2 spaces)
Security Practices
- Always use prepared statements for database queries
- Validate and sanitize all user inputs
- Implement proper error handling
- Use HTTPS in production
Testing
- Test all functionality before submitting changes
- Verify cross-browser compatibility
- Test file upload functionality
- Validate responsive design on mobile devices

Contribution Process

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
Make your changes with proper documentation
Test thoroughly in local environment
Commit changes (git commit -am 'Add new feature')
Push to branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
Create a Pull Request with detailed description

Reporting Issues

When reporting bugs, please include:

PHP version and server environment
Browser and version
Steps to reproduce the issue
Error messages or screenshots
Expected vs actual behavior

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Educational Use: This project is designed for learning purposes and portfolio demonstration. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute according to the license terms.

🙋‍♂️ Author & Support

Built with ❤️ by Shubham Patra

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 2 Commits
admin		admin
admin_api		admin_api
backend		backend
includes		includes
public		public
uploads		uploads
README.md		README.md
database.sql		database.sql
download.php		download.php

ShubhamPatra/CareerConnect

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