PHP Rewrite SEO friendly URL - Inside folder - apache

Question

This a php mod rewrite related question
Background info :
I am using wordpress site in my root ( example.com)
I have a folder created under that called 'search-jobs', which has all the php code ( example.com/search-jobs) I am not using wordpress for anything on this search page, but wanted to ensure you have that info and if it impacts.
I am trying to rewrite the below URL :
http://example.com/search-jobs/?searchText=FACEBOOK+INC.&searchCity=Enter+US+City+or+Zipcode&searchYear=14&action=search&searchJobTitle=Enter+Job+Title+%2F+Role+Name
I have the below mod rewrite written in the .htaccess file, which is placed in the root folder, where wordpress is installed.
# BEGIN search Rewrite rules
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^company/([0-9a-zA-Z_-\s]+)/([0-9a-zA-Z_-\s]+)/([0-9]+)/([0-9a-zA-Z_-\s]+)/([0-9a-zA-Z_-\s]+)$ /search-jobs/?searchText=$1&searchCity=$2&searchYear=$3&action=$4&searchJobTitle=$5 [NC,L]
</IfModule>
# END search Rewrite rules
Also, four of the variables typically have spaces as they are search strings. Not sure, if that is causing issues.
Below is the full Wordpress rewrite rule that excludes the folder
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/(search-jobs|search-jobs/.*)$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
I saw some wordpress rewrite rules in the .htaccess file, is that messing up my rewrite rules or am I doing something wrong ? I am doing this for the first time. I have tried for couple of days on this reading many other, badly stuck. Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Have root WP .htaccess like this:
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^(index\.php|search-jobs(/.*)?)$ - [L,NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
Then inside /search-jobs/.htaccess have code like this:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /search-jobs/
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \?searchText=([^\s&]+)&searchCity=([^\s&]+)&searchYear=(\d+)&action=([^\s&]+)&searchJobTitle=([^\s&]+) [NC]
RewriteRule ^ %1/%2/%3/%4/%5? [R=302,L,NE]
RewriteRule ^([^/]+)/([^/]+)/(\d+)/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ ?searchText=$1&searchCity=$2&searchYear=$3&action=$4&searchJobTitle=$5 [NC,L,QSA]