The careers page that brings applications

The trades are not a niche: 1,038,126 (ZDH 2025) businesses are entered in the German crafts registers and the register of trade-like occupations, and around 6 million (ZDH 2025) people work in them. Competition for the same people is correspondingly hard. A business looking for a qualified tradesperson today is not competing with two firms in the same village but with every business within the distance somebody is willing to drive in the morning — and additionally with industry, municipal utilities and facility service providers who need the same qualifications and offer different hours.

An unfilled post does not only cost the revenue that person would have produced. It costs deadlines, because jobs get pushed back; it costs margin, because the remaining staff work overtime; and in the long run it costs staff, because overload spreads. That is why a careers page ranks alongside a service page rather than a link in the footer. It is the only place where a business can explain, at its own pace, what a working day there actually looks like.

The technical requirement is usually already met: 94 percent (Bitkom 2025) of trade businesses run their own website. What is missing is not the website but a page that deserves the name careers page. In many cases it is enough to add two pages to the existing site — one for open positions, one for apprenticeships — rather than starting a new project. Our website services cover exactly that kind of extension.

The typical careers page consists of three parts: a heading containing the word team, a paragraph about values, and a list made up of competitive pay, a modern fleet and a family atmosphere. The problem is not that any of it is untrue. The problem is that it appears on every second website and therefore carries no information. An applicant comparing five businesses cannot tell them apart on such sentences — so the decision falls to whatever else can be found: reviews, photos, distance.

The second weakness is the end of the page. There you usually find a request for a full application with CV and certificates, addressed to a shared mailbox. The business is asking for an evening of work from somebody who has not yet decided whether to change job at all. Most people interested in a trade position are already employed; they do not apply out of necessity but out of comparison. Making the first step expensive leaves only those who have no alternative.

The third weakness is timing. Careers pages get built when a post falls vacant and are never touched again. A year later they show a position that was filled long ago, or a form that goes nowhere because the mailbox no longer exists. Avoiding that belongs in the ongoing maintenance of the website, not in a good intention.

Any tradesperson recognises a bought stock photo of a smiling model in clean overalls within two seconds — and concludes that the business has nothing of its own to show. Photos from the actual yard work even when they are technically imperfect: the vans, the workshop, the store, the people in workwear on an ordinary weekday. Somebody who can see who they will share a van with agrees to a conversation faster.

Three kinds of shot make sense: an overview of the premises, two or three pictures of the work itself, and portraits of the people an applicant will deal with — owner, master craftsman, foreman. Portraits do not need studio quality, but they do need even light and a calm wall behind them. A phone is entirely sufficient for this.

Legally: photos of employees belong on the website only with their consent, and that consent should be in writing and revocable. In practice this is no obstacle but a useful side effect — somebody asked whether their picture may go on the careers page usually reads the page once and points out what is wrong with it. For specific cases, such as shots taken on somebody else's property, professional advice remains sensible.

A shared mailbox is convenient for the business and uncomfortable for the applicant. It answers none of the three questions that come up before hitting send: who reads this, when will somebody respond, and may I simply call instead? A name, a role, a direct line and an indication of when to call answer all three in two lines. The difference in the number of responses is clearly visible (project experience).

The sensible choice is the person who also decides in the end — in a small business the owner, in a larger one the master craftsman running the relevant team. An office administrator works as a contact only if they are genuinely allowed to arrange an appointment. Somebody who is transferred and then has to explain again why they are calling does not hang up the second time; they never call in the first place.

An indication of when calls are welcome belongs with it. Tradespeople call other tradespeople early, often before seven, and equally during the lunch break. Writing that you are reachable Monday to Friday between seven and five gives permission — without it, most people assume they would be intruding. A visible phone number in the header of the website has the same effect.

Job adverts have to be worded without reference to gender; in Germany the suffix (m/f/d) after the job title is the usual form. Wording that excludes an age group should equally be avoided — a young, dynamic team is an example that has played a role in court proceedings. If in doubt, describe the requirement as an activity rather than as a property of the person.

Applicant data is personal data. For the careers page that means few fields, a comprehensible statement of who receives the data and how long it is stored, and a defined deletion period for applications that do not lead to employment. That period should be written down so that the inbox does not grow into an unmanaged data store over the years. The specific case — retention because of possible claims, for instance — is a matter for professional advice.

On accessibility: micro-enterprises under the German Accessibility Strengthening Act are businesses with fewer than ten employees and at most 2 million euros (BFSG) in annual turnover or balance sheet total, and micro-enterprises offering or providing services are exempt from the accessibility obligation. That exempts nobody from a legal notice and a privacy policy, and it is no reason for a form that cannot be operated with a keyboard. An application form that does not work on a phone loses applications regardless of any legal position.

With us a trade website is built at a fixed price from 1,490 euros net; the careers page, the apprenticeship page and the short application are ordinary components of it rather than an extra item. If an existing website stays and is only extended, the effort depends on its technical condition. A full relaunch starts at 2,900 euros net. What is included in each case is set out on our services page.

Ongoing there are the items every website needs: hosting in Germany from 15 euros per month, cancellable monthly with no minimum term, and website maintenance from 49 euros per month, cancellable monthly with no minimum term — that covers the changes to job adverts which come up in day-to-day operation. Businesses that also want to be found better in their region can have local visibility looked after from 290 euros per month, cancellable monthly with no minimum term.

What a careers page can achieve depends on the trade, on the catchment area and on the conditions the business genuinely offers — a specific number of applications cannot be derived from it and would not be a serious promise. What can be said is this: a page with concrete details, faces, a short application and a reachable contact person as a rule produces more first contacts than a page with values and a shared mailbox. If you would like your own page assessed, use the contact form or call.