Recruiting websites for the trades: a careers page that skilled workers actually apply through

Why is a job ad on a job portal not enough?

Job portals show your ad among a hundred others, with the same structure and the same stock phrases. Anyone who is seriously interested in your business ends up on your website sooner or later – and often finds nothing there but a PDF job ad, or nothing at all.

Your own careers page is the place where you show what sets you apart from others: the team, the workshop, the vehicles, working hours, further training, projects in the region. And it belongs to you – with no cost per ad and no portal deciding who gets to see it.

What belongs on a careers page in the trades?

• Real photos and short videos from your business – building site, workshop, tea break – instead of stock images of smiling models.
• Concrete details: working hours, salary range, vehicle, tools, days of holiday, training towards the master craftsman qualification (Meister).
• One page per vacancy, with location and trade in the title – ‘plumbing and heating technician (Anlagenmechaniker SHK) in Augsburg’, not ‘Join our team!’.
• A separate section for apprentices and parents: what will they learn, how does the work placement run, who is the contact person?
• Voices from the team with first names and roles – if your employees agree.

How does a 60-second application work?

Many skilled workers have neither an up-to-date CV nor any wish to write a cover letter on their phone. A short application therefore asks only for the essentials: name, phone number, trade, years of experience and earliest start date – optionally a photo of the journeyman's certificate (Gesellenbrief). You clarify everything else on the phone.

As an alternative or in addition, a WhatsApp button takes applicants straight to you. What matters is that every application gets a quick response: the form sends the applicant a confirmation and you a notification, so that nobody is left waiting for days.

How do your vacancies appear in Google's job search?

Google shows job offers in a dedicated job search when the job page contains structured data following the JobPosting schema: title, place of work, type of employment, salary and date. I generate this data automatically from every vacancy you create – with no fee per ad.

Just as important: positions that have been filled disappear reliably. Outdated ads frustrate applicants and, over time, are rated worse by Google.

How do you get apprentices and school leavers onto the page?

School leavers rarely search actively for ‘apprenticeship plumbing and heating technician’. They come across your business on a building site, on a work experience day or through parents and friends. A QR code on the company van, the site board and your business card leads straight to your apprentice page – with short videos from everyday training and a form for a taster placement.

Parents read along too: apprentice pay, the chances of being kept on, further training towards the master craftsman qualification and a fixed contact person in the business answer their questions before they ask them.

How do you measure whether the careers page is working?

• Every application comes with information on how the applicant heard about you – Google, a job portal, a recommendation, social media. I use the same principle on my own website.
• Cookie-free statistics on your own server show which job pages are read and where visitors drop off – without a cookie banner for applicants.
• After a few weeks you can see which channels are worth it and which ads you can do without.

What applies to data protection for applicant data?

Applicant data is transmitted in encrypted form, forwarded only to the people responsible and deleted once the recruitment process is complete – the retention period is stated in your privacy policy. All packages are GDPR-compliant – starter website, business website and web apps.

Are there already references for recruiting websites?

To be honest up front: I have not yet completed a client project in this sector that I can show here as a reference. What I can show are the building blocks – service pages, enquiry forms, protected areas and loading times – from my projects for DARMEL and YachtBrokerBid. For your business's general website – services, service area, enquiries – see the page websites for tradespeople.

How much does a careers page for the trades cost?

Source of the skilled-worker figure: Jörg Dittrich, President of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks, ZDH), interview of 29 April 2025 on zdh.de.

You receive a binding fixed-price offer after the free initial call. All prices are final prices; as a small business under § 19 of the German VAT Act, no VAT is charged. All packages at a glance

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