Ostjob.ch Job Scraper

Scrapes job listings from ostjob.ch, the leading job portal for Eastern Switzerland (Ostschweiz).

Three Scraping Modes

This actor supports three distinct scraping modes for different use cases:

1. SEARCH MODE (Default)

Search for jobs using query/location filters. Supports multiple search queries in a single run.

Use case: Regular job scraping, finding new opportunities

Example input:

{
  "searchQuery": "Informatiker",
  "location": "St. Gallen",
  "maxResults": 200
}

2. MULTI-QUERY MODE

Run multiple search queries in a single actor run. Each query gets its own result limit and results are deduplicated across queries.

Use case: Scraping multiple job categories efficiently

Example input:

{
  "searchQueries": ["Informatiker", "Pflege", "Buchhaltung", "Elektriker"],
  "location": "St. Gallen",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "maxResults": 0
}

3. DIRECT URL MODE

Check if specific job URLs are still online (still alive checks). Fetches jobs by their URLs directly from the API.

Use case: Monitoring if previously scraped jobs are still available, updating job status in your database

Example input:

{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.ostjob.ch/job/software-entwickler/12345",
    "https://www.ostjob.ch/job/projekt-manager/67890",
    "https://www.ostjob.ch/job/verkaufsberater/54321"
  ]
}

Output: Each job will have a job_status field:

• "online" - Job is still available, full data extracted
• "offline" - Job not found (404) or removed

Features

• Multi-query support - Run multiple search queries in a single actor run with per-query limits
• API-based scraping - Uses the official Ostjob API for fast, reliable data extraction
• Smart location filtering - Enter any canton, district, or city name - auto-resolves via API
• Sort by date - Get newest jobs first for job monitoring use cases
• Workload filter - Filter by Pensum percentage (e.g., 40-60% for part-time)
• Regional focus - Specializes in jobs from St. Gallen, Thurgau, Appenzell, Graubunden, and surrounding areas
• Comprehensive job data - Extracts title, company, location, workload, contact details, and more
• Company enrichment - Includes company description, social media URLs, and benefits when available
• LLM-powered contact extraction - Optional AI-powered extraction of contact person details (salutation, first name, last name) using Groq or OpenRouter
• HR company filtering - Filter out recruitment agencies to get direct employer postings, or filter to only show HR agencies
• Still alive checks - Verify if specific job URLs are still active
• Standardized output - Returns data in the JobListing schema format with search_query tracking
• Rate-limited - Respectful 4-second delays between API requests
• Proxy support - Built-in proxy rotation for reliability

Input

Field	Type	Description	Default
directUrls	array	List of job URLs to scrape directly (for still alive checks)	[]
searchQueries	string[]	List of search queries to run (multi-query mode)	[]
searchQuery	string	Single search query (backward compatible)	"" (all jobs)
location	string	Canton, district, or city name (e.g., "St. Gallen", "Thurgau"). Auto-resolves.	"" (all Eastern Switzerland)
maxResults	integer	Maximum total results across all queries. 0 = unlimited.	0
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	Maximum results per individual query	100
sortOrder	string	Sort order: by_relevance or by_date	by_relevance
workloadMin	integer	Minimum workload/Pensum percentage (0-100)	-
workloadMax	integer	Maximum workload/Pensum percentage (0-100)	-
includeJobDetails	boolean	Fetch full job descriptions	true
companyFilter	string	Filter by company type: all, exclude-hr, only-hr	all
llmApiKey	string	API key for LLM contact extraction (optional, secret)	-
llmModel	string	LLM model for contact extraction	none
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify proxy settings	Residential

Output

Each job listing follows the standardized JobListing schema:

{
  "id": "12345",
  "title": "Software Entwickler (m/w/d)",
  "company": "Tech Solutions AG",
  "location": "St. Gallen, 9000, SG",
  "canton": "SG",
  "search_query": "Informatiker",
  "job_status": "online",
  "employment_type": "full-time",
  "workload_min": 80,
  "workload_max": 100,
  "remote_option": null,
  "description_snippet": "Wir suchen einen erfahrenen Entwickler...",
  "description_full": "...",
  "requirements": ["3+ Jahre Erfahrung in Java"],
  "posted_at": "2024-01-15T00:00:00.000Z",
  "expires_at": "2024-02-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source_url": "https://www.ostjob.ch/job/software-entwickler/12345",
  "source_platform": "ostjob.ch",
  "contact_email": "jobs@techsolutions.ch",
  "contact_phone": "+41712345678",
  "apply_url": "https://careers.techsolutions.ch/apply",
  "company_url": "https://www.techsolutions.ch",
  "scraped_at": "2024-01-16T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Output Fields

Field	Description
search_query	The search query that found this job (for multi-query tracking)
job_status	Job availability: "online", "offline". Only set in DIRECT URL mode.
contact_raw	Raw HTML/text contact block from the job posting
contact_email	Email address - extracted via regex
contact_phone	Phone number - extracted via regex
company_description	Company about/description text
company_social_urls	Object with social media links
company_benefits	Array of company benefits/perks

Usage

Multi-Query Example

{
  "searchQueries": ["Informatiker", "Pflege", "Buchhaltung"],
  "location": "St. Gallen",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "maxResults": 0,
  "sortOrder": "by_date"
}

Via API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/santamaria~ostjob-ch-scraper/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "searchQueries": ["Pflege", "Informatiker"],
    "location": "Thurgau",
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 100
  }'

Covered Regions

Ostjob.ch specializes in jobs from Eastern Switzerland:

Canton	Major Cities
SG	St. Gallen, Rapperswil, Wil
TG	Frauenfeld, Kreuzlingen, Arbon
AR	Herisau, Teufen
AI	Appenzell
GR	Chur, Davos, St. Moritz
GL	Glarus

Performance

• Speed: ~100-200 jobs/minute (limited by respectful rate limiting)
• Cost: ~0.01-0.03 CU per 500 jobs
• Reliability: Built-in retry logic and error handling

Data Source

• Website: ostjob.ch
• API: Public vacancy search API (https://api.ostjob.ch/public/vacancy/)
• Coverage: Eastern Switzerland (Ostschweiz)

Legal Notice

This actor accesses publicly available job listings through the API. Please ensure your use case complies with the ostjob.ch terms of service.

---

Part of the Santamaria Job Scrapers Suite - Professional-grade job data for the DACH region and beyond.

Need help with integration, aggregation, or custom scraping solutions? Contact us at contact@alessandrosantamaria.com