Stepstone quality
standards for job ads

Give applicants a short overview of your company.
✔ Describe your products, services or the field your company works in.
✔ Your industry should be clearly recognisable at the very least.

Show was the role involves.
✔ List the most important tasks and responsibilities. 5-7 points are ideal.
✔ Clearly explain what the candidate can expect from a typical day.
✔ Provide information on potential business travel requirements.

Make it clear who is right for the role.
✔ Describe what you need in terms of level of education, skill set and work experience.
✔ If no degree or specialist knowledge is not required, please make this clear in the ad.

Stand out with attractive benefits.
✔ Highlight tangible benefits, additional perks and working conditions.
✔ Give a realistic and positive impression of your company culture.

Provide the salary range that candidates can expect. This creates clarity, increases interest in your ad and improves applicant quality.

If you don’t provide a salary range, Stepstone shows an estimated salary range.
This is based on market data for comparable positions.

Close your job ad with the most important organisational details.
✔ Provide the company address for the job listed.
✔ Name a contact for queries and applications.

The job title is the first thing candidates see in your job ad – and it’s often a deciding factor in whether they click on it. A clear, precise title means your job ad will be easier to find and that it speaks to the right applicants.

Describe responsibilities as clearly as possible. A title like “Graduate Engineer (m/f/x) for Process Engineering in Vehicle Manufacturing” is more engaging than simply “Graduate Engineer”.
Avoid overly general terms, such as “employee”, “trainee”, or “assistant”. If using these descriptions, always include a clear context, for example “Internal Sales Employee”.

Use consistent language. Additionally, you should only write in either German or English – not a mix. Ensure the title clearly describes the role and includes all relevant information.

Add the required qualifications, specialisations or areas of expertise
to the title, such as:
✔ IT Specialist for System Integration
✔ Project Management Controller
✔ Specific criteria, such as international, hybrid or project work can also be useful if they make the job more attractive

Candidates usually search for well-known job titles. Avoid internal abbreviations, creative job titles or terms that are only common within your company.

Address all genders – (m/f/x) or (m/f/d), for example. This ensures inclusivity and is standard practice at Stepstone.

✔ Keep the title short and concise – a maximum of 80 characters.
✔ Put the most important information at the start: In online campaigns, usually only the first 40 characters are visible. In search results, the title is truncated after one line, and on mobile devices after two lines.
✔ The complete job title is always shown in the full ad.

✔ Include commonly used job titles alongside internal titles or reference
numbers.
✔ Do not write in all CAPITAL LETTERS – except for established terms or
names, such as SAP.
✔ Avoid abbreviations, such as admin. role – instead write administrator
role so that your ad is easier to find.

No: Stepstone does not publish group or collective job ads. And this works in your favour. Every job ad is a digital search for suitable candidates. Bulk job ads are proven to generate less interest because they lack a clear focus. If you want to fill multiple the same role multiple times, you can indicate this in the title. For example, “10 office workers (m/f/x)”.

No: Candidates expect a clear job description with understandable roles, responsibilities and requirements. Our experience shows that welcoming unsolicited applications leads to significantly fewer qualified applicants. Therefore, we do not offer this.

No: As Stepstone is an online platform, jobseekers and candidates are already online. All key application information should be in the job ad. QR codes are a distraction and don’t offer any additional value.

Your job ad should include all essential information so that candidates have a clear understanding of the role and your company.

✔ Job title
✔ Description of your company
✔ Description of responsibilities
✔ Requirements profile
✔ Working location (not the location where potential candidates are
searching)
✔ Salary details
✔ Application process

No: If you change the working location, this would be considered as a new role, and you would need to repost the job ad. Please note: When the job ad is posted, suitable candidates are contacted via Stepstone Job Agents. Changing the location would significantly reduce the job’s visibility. However, you can make the location more specific. For example, from North Rhine-Westphalia to Düsseldorf.

We generally recommend posting in German, as this achieves the widest reach. You can also advertise a job in English. The most important thing is to choose one language and stick to it.

By clicking on the “I’m Interested” button. This is found directly under the job title as well as at the end of the job ad. Depending on your preferences, you can link to the Stepstone application form or your own Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You can find the job settings in the job ad editor.

No: Due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), embedding your own tracking pixels within a job ad is not allowed. Protecting user data is a top priority.

In the Additional Information section, you can link to your data protection policy. Alternatively, you can include a short message about your data protection policy – provided that it relates to the application documents or process and is no longer than four lines.

Yes: We strongly recommend providing a salary range. This gives candidates clarity over what they can expect from your role and increases the appeal of the ad. If you do not provide a salary range, Stepstone shows an estimated salary range. This is based on comparable roles and market data.