Understanding Job Flow: Open → In Progress → Completed
Hire Local uses a three-stage job flow to keep things simple and transparent for both customers and experts. Each job moves through the same stages from start to finish, and the current status is always visible in your dashboard.
1. Open
This is the starting stage after a customer posts a job.
What happens in this stage:
- The job becomes visible to experts in the selected category.
- Experts can apply by submitting offers.
- The customer can also invite specific experts to apply.
The job stays in the Open stage until the customer chooses an expert and hires them.
2. In Progress
Once the customer hires an expert, the job status changes to In Progress.
What happens in this stage:
- The expert is officially assigned to the job
- Both parties can message each other through the job thread
- The expert starts working
- Any file uploads, instructions, or progress updates are handled here
Customers can keep track of updates, and experts can ask questions, request clarification, or share updates.
3. Completed
When the expert finishes the work, they click “Mark as Completed”.
The customer then reviews the work and clicks “Confirm Completion” if everything is done properly.
What happens next:
- The job status changes to Completed
- The customer leaves a review and star rating
- Payment is released to the expert (if not already handled manually)
- Both users can see the completed job in their history
Other Statuses (Optional/Edge Cases)
While the standard flow is Open → In Progress → Completed, jobs can also be:
- Cancelled – if either party cancels before the job is completed
- Disputed – if there’s a major issue and support needs to step in
These are rare but important to understand. Cancelled or disputed jobs will also show in the dashboard with appropriate labels.
