Finding Jobs Near You: Using the Map, City Filter, and Notifications Correctly

"Jobs near me" is one of the most common searches of all — and at the same time one of the poorly used. Most people enter the city, scroll through once, and hope. Yet the whole lever lies in the combination of filters and in one single function almost everyone ignores: notifications. Set the tools right and you no longer search — you get found the moment a matching shift appears.

Here you'll read how to combine map, city, distance, category, pay, and date so that, in the end, only jobs that really fit you remain.

The first mistake happens before searching: too large a radius. A 50-minute commute for a four-hour shift eats time and money — and after two times you cancel, annoyed. Factor the commute into the hourly-wage logic: a shift two streets away at €13.90 can be worth more than one across town at €15.

So set the radius the way you actually want to commute — not the way you theoretically could. Better three realistic hits in your area than twenty of which you'd never accept eighteen. The map view on Vardio helps here: you immediately see what's reachable on foot or with a short ride.

Filters aren't random; they're a sequence. Set them like this:

1. City + radius — the hard boundary. Everything else happens within it.
2. Category — two or three areas where you can start immediately. Don't tick everything; that dilutes.
3. Date / period — only shifts that fit your real availability.
4. Pay — as a plausibility check. If something is well below the minimum wage of €13.90 (2026), it's a warning sign, not a filter error.

This order saves you the scrolling. You land directly at a short, relevant list instead of a hundred ads of which three fit.

Now the most important part almost everyone skips. For flexible jobs the first hour after publication decides. Whoever checks manually twice a day is almost always too late — the good Saturday shift is long gone by then.

So set up notifications for your city and your categories. Then the job comes to you, not you to it. In practice: alert arrives → quick check → reply concretely in the chat immediately. "Yes, Saturday from 8 am, on site within 20 minutes." Nothing more is needed, because you're not typing a cover letter (see "Applying without a cover letter"). Speed almost always beats the longer CV here.

From practice — a simple rhythm that reliably brings hits:

• Set up cleanly once: city, realistic radius, 2–3 categories, availability. Complete profile (otherwise the fastest filter is useless).
• Notifications on: for exactly this combination.
• React fast: when an alert comes, actually look — not "later".
• Adjust weekly: radius too tight? Category too narrow? Change one screw, not all.

How profile, filters, and chat interlock is shown in the overview How Vardio works.

"Finding jobs near you" is less a search matter than a settings matter: realistic radius, clear filters, notifications on, fast reply. Set the tools right once — and the next suitable assignment usually announces itself.