diff --git a/server/autograder.py b/server/autograder.py
index 716f47e6c..160c2220a 100644
--- a/server/autograder.py
+++ b/server/autograder.py
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ def autograde_assignment(assignment_id):
     ]
     num_tasks = len(tasks)
 
+    if not num_tasks:
+        return "No submissions to grade"
+
     def retry_task(task):
         if task.retries >= MAX_RETRIES:
             logger.error('Did not receive a score for backup {} after {} retries'.format(
@@ -194,8 +197,10 @@ def retry_task(task):
 
         graded = len([task for task in tasks
             if task.status in (GradingStatus.DONE, GradingStatus.FAILED)])
-        logger.info('Graded {:>4}/{} ({:>5.1f}%)'.format(
-            graded, num_tasks, 100 * graded / num_tasks))
+
+        logger.critical('Graded {:>4}/{} ({:>5.1f}%)'.format(
+                        graded, num_tasks, 100 * graded / num_tasks))
+
         if graded == num_tasks:
             break
 
diff --git a/server/jobs/__init__.py b/server/jobs/__init__.py
index 31e79df00..5003a1276 100644
--- a/server/jobs/__init__.py
+++ b/server/jobs/__init__.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def handle(self, record):
         self.counter += 1
         super().handle(record)
         print(record.message)
-        if (self.counter % self.log_every) == 0:
+        if record.levelno >= logging.CRITICAL or not (self.counter % self.log_every):
             self.job.log = self.contents
             db.session.commit()
 
diff --git a/server/jobs/example.py b/server/jobs/example.py
index 2a6338635..fb75bb6a4 100644
--- a/server/jobs/example.py
+++ b/server/jobs/example.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ def test_job(duration=0, should_fail=False, make_file=False):
     logger = jobs.get_job_logger()
 
     logger.info('Starting...')
+    logger.critical('This job will sleep for {} seconds'.format(duration))
+
     time.sleep(duration)
     if should_fail:
         1/0
diff --git a/server/jobs/moss.py b/server/jobs/moss.py
index 38b4627e0..4043ea3da 100644
--- a/server/jobs/moss.py
+++ b/server/jobs/moss.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def submit_to_moss(moss_id=None, file_regex=".*", assignment_id=None, language=N
                           .order_by(Backup.created.desc())
                           .all())
 
-    logger.info("Retreived {} final submissions".format(len(subm_keys)))
+    logger.info("Retrieved {} final submissions".format(len(subm_keys)))
     # TODO: Customize the location of the tmp writing (especially useful during dev)
 
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def submit_to_moss(moss_id=None, file_regex=".*", assignment_id=None, language=N
                    .format(lang=language, templates=templates,
                            folder=' '.join(all_student_files)))
 
-        logger.info("Running {}".format(command[:100] + ' ...'))
+        logger.critical("Running {}".format(command[:100] + ' ...'))
 
         try:
             process = subprocess.check_output(shlex.split(command),
diff --git a/tests/test_job.py b/tests/test_job.py
index 7c9649d91..e9228a8e2 100644
--- a/tests/test_job.py
+++ b/tests/test_job.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def test_job(self):
         job = Job.query.get(job_id)
         self.assertEqual(job.status, 'finished')
         self.assertFalse(job.failed)
-        self.assertEqual(job.log, 'Starting...\nFinished!\n')
+        self.assertEqual(job.log, 'Starting...\nThis job will sleep for 0 seconds\nFinished!\n')
 
     def test_failing_job(self):
         job_id = self.start_test_job(should_fail=True)