Imagine Job Email Insert - Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that streamlines job application tracking by automatically extracting job details from job boards and filling out Google Forms, reducing the manual process from ~40 seconds to just 4 seconds.

🚀 Performance Improvement

Before: ~5 roundtrips taking ~40 seconds

After: 2 clicks taking ~4 seconds

Improvement: 90% time savings (36 seconds saved per job application)

🏗️ Architecture Overview

The extension follows a message-passing architecture where different components communicate through Chrome's runtime messaging system. Since content scripts cannot communicate directly with each other, the background script acts as a central message router.

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Job Board     │    │   Background    │    │   Google Forms  │
│   Pages         │◄──►│     Script      │◄──►│     Page        │
│ (LinkedIn, etc.)│    │  (Message Hub)  │    │(Job Tracking)   │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

🔄 Communication Flow

1. Context Menu Trigger (Background Script)

• User right-clicks on any page
• Background script creates context menu: "Log job details"
• When clicked, sends message to content script on current tab

2. Job Details Extraction (Job Board Pages)

• Content script receives "getJobDetails" message
• Identifies job board type (LinkedIn, Xing, StepStone, etc.)
• Extracts job information:
  • Job Title
  • Company Name
  • Recruiter (if available)
  • Job URL
• Opens modal for user confirmation/editing
• Sends extracted data to background script

3. Message Routing (Background Script)

• Receives job details from job board page
• Finds open Google Forms tab
• Forwards job details to Google Forms page

4. Form Auto-fill (Google Forms Page)

• Receives job details from background script
• Automatically fills form fields
• Submits form (optional)
• Sends confirmation back

📁 File Structure & Responsibilities

Core Components

background.js - Message Router & Context Menu

• Role: Central communication hub and context menu manager
• Responsibilities:
  • Creates right-click context menu
• • Listens for messages from content scripts
• • Routes messages between job boards and Google Forms
• • Manages tab communication

imagine-job-tracking-page.js - Google Forms Handler

• Role: Handles Google Forms page operations
• Responsibilities:
  • Listens for job details messages
  • Auto-fills form fields
  • Handles form submission
  • Manages email pre-filling

job-boards/index.js - Job Board Interface

• Role: Extracts job information from various job boards
• Supported Platforms:
  • LinkedIn
  • Xing
  • StepStone
  • Join.com
  • Greenhouse
• Responsibilities:
  • Detects job board type
  • Extracts job details using DOM selectors
  • Creates job details modal
  • Sends data to background script

job-details-modal.js - User Interface

• Role: Provides user interface for job details confirmation
• Responsibilities:
  • Displays extracted job information
  • Allows user editing
  • Handles save/cancel actions
  • Manages modal lifecycle

🔧 Technical Implementation

Message Types

// From background to job board
{ action: "getJobDetails" }

// From job board to background
{
  action: "fillJobDetails",
  content: {
    jobTitle: "...",
    companyName: "...",
    recruiter: "...",
    url: "..."
  }
}

// From background to Google Forms
{
  action: "fillJobDetails",
  content: { ... }
}

Content Script Injection

The extension injects different content scripts based on the page:

• Job Board Pages: job-boards/index.js, job-details-modal.js
• Google Forms: imagine-job-tracking-page.js

CSS Injection

• Uses styles/css-injector.js to inject custom styles
• Ensures consistent UI across different job boards

🎯 Supported Job Boards

Platform	URL Pattern	Status
LinkedIn	*.linkedin.com/jobs/*	✅ Full Support
Xing	*.xing.com/jobs/*	✅ Full Support
StepStone	*.stepstone.de/*	✅ Full Support
Join.com	*.join.com/*	✅ Full Support
Greenhouse	*.greenhouse.io/*	✅ Full Support

🚧 Current Limitations

• Hardcoded Email: Username is currently hardcoded in the Google Forms handler
• Content Script Isolation: Cannot communicate directly between job board pages and Google Forms
• Tab Dependency: Requires Google Forms tab to be open

🔮 Future Enhancements

High Priority

• Dynamic Username Storage: Save username in extension storage instead of hardcoding
• Auto-open Forms: Automatically open Google Forms if not already open
• Error Handling: Better error handling for failed extractions

Medium Priority

• More Job Boards: Add support for Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, etc.
• Data Validation: Validate extracted data before form submission
• Custom Fields: Allow users to configure which fields to extract

Low Priority

• Export Options: Export job data to CSV/JSON
• Analytics: Track application success rates
• Reminders: Set follow-up reminders for applications

🛠️ Development Setup

Chrome

1. Clone the repository
2. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
3. Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
4. Click "Load unpacked" and select the extension directory
5. The extension will appear in your extensions list

Firefox (Temporary Debug Mode)

1. Clone the repository
2. Open Firefox and navigate to about:debugging
3. Click "This Firefox" in the left sidebar
4. Click "Load Temporary Add-on..."
5. Select the manifest.json file from your extension directory
6. The extension will load temporarily (will be removed on browser restart)
7. Note: Firefox requires Manifest V3 for production, but V2 works for development/testing

📝 Usage Instructions

1. Navigate to a job posting on any supported job board
2. Right-click anywhere on the page
3. Select "Log job details" from the context menu
4. Review and edit the extracted information in the modal
5. Click "Save" to automatically fill your Google Forms tracking sheet
6. Ensure Google Forms tab is open for the extension to work

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas for improvement:

• Adding support for new job boards
• Improving data extraction accuracy
• Enhancing the user interface
• Adding new features

📄 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

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Built with ❤️ to make job hunting more efficient