#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use XML::Parser;

my %hash;
my $depth = 0;
my @tags;

sub start
{
 my ($expat, $element) = @_;
 push(@tags, $element);
 $hash{$tags[-1]} = '';
}

sub end
{
 pop(@tags);
 if (@tags == 1)
 {
  delete $hash{posts};
  delete $hash{post};
  # now you have hash.
  print "Job: $hash{jobnumber}\n";
  print "City: $hash{location}\n";
  %hash = ();
 }
}

sub char
{
 my ($expat, $string) = @_;
 $hash{$tags[-1]} .= $string;
}

my $text = <<'EOF';
<post>
 <jobnumber>1234</jobnumber>
 <location> somecity NJ </location>
</post>
<post>
  <jobnumber>87922</jobnumber>
  <location> Othercity, AK </location>
</post>
EOF

my $p1 = new XML::Parser(Handlers => { Start => \&start,
 End => \&end,
 Char => \&char });
$p1->parse("<posts>$text</posts>");