Stepstone
Professional and early-career hiring across European markets
Images: Stepstone
- Best for
- Salaried professional and early-career roles in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands
- Less suitable for
- Hourly and shift roles hired in bulk, which suit channels priced per application
About Stepstone
Across Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, Stepstone runs a generalist job board on which every advert is a paid placement. Employers turn to it when a salaried professional or graduate vacancy should reach qualified candidates across many functions, from sales and finance to engineering, rather than within a single specialism.
Stepstone's audience is salaried professionals in commercial, technical, finance and management functions, plus graduates and trainees through Campus in Germany. They search a large stock of vacancies, and part of the reach never touches a search box: matching candidates receive the advert through Job Agent alerts as soon as it starts. Established office and technical roles gain from both, as do structured entry programmes.
When the hiring is hourly or shift work in bulk, put it on a board where candidates search by title and town, or on a sector board, such as one for hotel and restaurant staff in Germany and Austria. Add those next to Stepstone when one employer fills both salaried and shift roles.
Stepstone pricing
Country:Germany
Prices exclude VAT · Source: Join job board catalogue
How to post a job on Stepstone
One account for Stepstone and every other hiring channel, your team and all applications.
Write your job ad
Write it once in Join; the same ad goes to Stepstone and every other channel you pick.
Publish to Stepstone
Pick a product as you publish. You can also publish under your own Stepstone contract. Applications come back to Join.
Posting directly on Stepstone, without Join
Direct Stepstone publishing combines advert creation in Stepstone Recruit with a separate inventory decision. Prepare verified company details, the structured job content, the application route and the target market before choosing between an eligible package, contract inventory or a single paid advert.
- Register for Stepstone Recruit or sign in to the employer account. New employers must provide contact and company information and confirm the registration email.
- Start a new advert in Stepstone Recruit and write the content in the editor, with its AI drafting assistance if you want it.
- Complete the fixed sections (introduction, tasks, profile, what you offer, further information) and add a salary range, rather than relying on one unstructured block of text.
- Preview the generated advert and adapt links, media and section order to Stepstone's quality standards before attaching paid or contracted inventory.
- Select the target country and the eligible All Jobs package, employer-contract inventory or single-ad product that matches the role and hiring need.
- Review the advert, runtime and commercial terms, complete the order where required and publish the vacancy from Stepstone Recruit.
Sources: Stepstone: place a job advert
Stepstone job posting requirements
What the ad needs· 6
The real work location
The ad states where the job really is, including any travel or relocation it involves.
One language throughout
Pick one language for the ad and keep to it; the title and body may not mix, say, German and English.
The board's fixed ad sections
The advert follows the board's fixed sections — introduction, tasks, profile, what you offer, further information — whose names, order and colours are standardised.
The type of engagement, stated
Freelance, part-time, commission or piecework terms have to be named as such, not presented as regular employment.
Costs for candidates spelled out
If candidates have to pay or invest anything to take the job, such as training or travel, the ad has to say so plainly.
Accurate, truthful job details
Everything the ad states — title, duties, pay, job type — has to be true and match the role, and the employer answers for it.
What to avoid· 7
Different roles in one ad
One ad, one role. Several hires for the same role are fine; different roles in one ad, or an open call for applications, are not.
Links in the body of the ad
Outbound links belong only in the closing section of the ad.
QR codes or tracking pixels
No QR codes and no tracking pixels of your own inside the advert.
Uploaded video files
Video goes in as a YouTube or Vimeo link, not as an uploaded file.
Moving a live ad to another location
The work location is fixed once the ad is live; a different location counts as a new role and needs a new ad.
Posts that aren't a real vacancy
The post has to be a real, open vacancy: product promotion, paid courses, MLM, franchise or pyramid schemes and posts that harvest candidate data are taken off.
Offensive or unlawful content
Offensive, explicit, defamatory or unlawful text or images are refused or taken down.
Sources: Stepstone Qualitätsstandards für StellenanzeigenStepstone AGB für Stellenanzeigen
