StepStone.de Scraper - Germany's #1 Job Portal

Professional job scraper for StepStone.de, Germany's leading job board with over 200,000+ active job postings across all 16 federal states (Bundesländer) and all major industries.

Features

• Comprehensive Coverage: All 16 German federal states (Bayern, Berlin, Hamburg, etc.)
• Advanced Filtering: Employment type, experience level, location radius, date posted
• Full Job Details: Optional deep scraping for complete job descriptions
• LLM Extraction: AI-powered extraction of requirements, benefits, and contact information
• Structured Output: Standardized JobListing schema compatible with your data pipeline
• Proxy Support: Built-in Apify proxy integration to avoid rate limits
• Lightweight: HTTP-only (CheerioCrawler) — no browser needed, fast and cost-efficient

StepStone.de Overview

StepStone is Germany's #1 job portal, connecting millions of job seekers with employers:

• 200,000+ active job listings
• 16 federal states (Bundesländer)
• All industries and sectors
• Entry-level to executive positions

Input

Field	Type	Description	Default
directUrls	array	Direct StepStone.de job URLs to scrape (skips search)	-
searchQueries	string[]	One or more search keywords. Each runs as a separate search, results deduplicated.	-
searchQuery	string	Single search keyword (backward compatible, use searchQueries for multiple)	-
location	string	City, region, or state name (e.g., "Berlin", "München", "Sachsen")	-
radius	integer	Search radius in km (0, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200)	25
bundesland	string	Federal state code (BY, BE, HH, NW, etc.) — used when location is not set	-
employmentType	array	Filter by type (FULL_TIME, PART_TIME, FREELANCE, etc.)	[]
experienceLevel	array	Filter by level (ENTRY_LEVEL, PROFESSIONAL, MANAGEMENT, etc.)	[]
datePosted	string	Days since posted (1, 7, 30)	-
sortBy	string	Sort order: date (newest first) or relevance	Default
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	Max results per search keyword	100
maxResults	integer	Total cap across all queries (0 = unlimited)	0
includeJobDetails	boolean	Visit detail pages for full data	true
llmApiKey	string	Groq/OpenRouter API key for AI extraction	-
llmModel	string	LLM model (none, llama-3.1-8b-instant, mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct)	none
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify proxy settings	Datacenter

Output

Each job listing follows the standardized schema:

{
  "id": "job-12345",
  "title": "Senior Softwareentwickler (m/w/d)",
  "company": "Tech GmbH",
  "location": "Berlin",
  "canton": "BE",
  "salary_text": "EUR 60,000 - 80,000 per year",
  "employment_type": "full-time",
  "workload_min": null,
  "workload_max": null,
  "remote_option": "remote",
  "description_snippet": "Wir suchen einen erfahrenen Softwareentwickler...",
  "description_full": "Full job description...",
  "requirements": [
    "5+ Jahre Erfahrung mit Java/Python",
    "Kenntnisse in Cloud-Technologien (AWS, Azure)",
    "Teamfähigkeit und selbstständiges Arbeiten"
  ],
  "posted_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "expires_at": "2026-02-15T23:59:59Z",
  "source_url": "https://www.stepstone.de/jobs/...",
  "source_platform": "stepstone.de",
  "contact_firstname": "Maria",
  "contact_lastname": "Schmidt",
  "contact_salutation": "Frau",
  "contact_position": "Personalreferentin",
  "contact_email": "jobs@tech-gmbh.de",
  "contact_phone": "+49 30 12345678",
  "apply_url": "https://...",
  "company_url": "https://www.stepstone.de/cmp/de/Tech-GmbH-12345/jobs.html",
  "company_website": "https://www.tech-gmbh.de",
  "company_job_count": 15,
  "company_benefits": [
    "Homeoffice möglich",
    "30 Tage Urlaub",
    "Betriebliche Altersvorsorge"
  ],
  "search_query": "Softwareentwickler",
  "scraped_at": "2026-01-16T12:00:00Z"
}

Usage Examples

Example 1: Software Jobs in Berlin

{
  "searchQueries": ["Softwareentwickler"],
  "location": "Berlin",
  "radius": 25,
  "employmentType": ["FULL_TIME"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
  "includeJobDetails": true
}

Example 2: Multiple Keywords — Nursing + Caregiving in Bayern

{
  "searchQueries": ["Krankenpfleger", "Altenpfleger", "Pflegefachkraft"],
  "bundesland": "BY",
  "employmentType": ["FULL_TIME", "PART_TIME"],
  "datePosted": "7",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "includeJobDetails": true,
  "llmApiKey": "gsk_xxxxx",
  "llmModel": "llama-3.1-8b-instant"
}

Results are deduplicated across keywords — a job appearing for both "Krankenpfleger" and "Pflegefachkraft" is only returned once.

Example 3: Remote Marketing Jobs (Last 30 Days)

{
  "searchQueries": ["Marketing Manager remote"],
  "datePosted": "30",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
  "includeJobDetails": true
}

Example 4: Entry-Level Jobs in Hamburg

{
  "searchQueries": ["Berufseinsteiger"],
  "location": "Hamburg",
  "experienceLevel": ["ENTRY_LEVEL"],
  "datePosted": "7",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50
}

Example 5: Large-Scale Multi-Keyword Scrape with Total Cap

{
  "searchQueries": ["Data Scientist", "Machine Learning", "KI Engineer", "Data Analyst"],
  "location": "München",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 200,
  "maxResults": 500,
  "includeJobDetails": true
}

Each keyword gets up to 200 results, but the total is capped at 500. The search_query field in each result shows which keyword found it.

Example 5: Direct URL Mode (Status Checking)

{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.stepstone.de/stellenangebote--Software-Engineer--12345-inline.html",
    "https://www.stepstone.de/stellenangebote--Data-Scientist--67890-inline.html"
  ]
}

Use direct URL mode to:

• Check if jobs are still online/active
• Update existing job data
• Monitor specific job postings

Location Filtering

You can filter by location in two ways:

1. location parameter (recommended): Pass any city name, region, or state name directly (e.g., "Berlin", "München", "Sachsen", "Frankfurt am Main"). This is the most flexible option.
2. bundesland parameter: Pass a 2-letter state code (e.g., "SN" for Sachsen). Only used when location is not set.

If both location and bundesland are provided, location takes precedence.

German Federal States (Bundesländer)

The scraper supports all 16 German states via either the location or bundesland parameter:

Code	State (German)	State (English)
BY	Bayern	Bavaria
BW	Baden-Württemberg	Baden-Württemberg
BE	Berlin	Berlin
BB	Brandenburg	Brandenburg
HB	Bremen	Bremen
HH	Hamburg	Hamburg
HE	Hessen	Hesse
MV	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
NI	Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony
NW	Nordrhein-Westfalen	North Rhine-Westphalia
RP	Rheinland-Pfalz	Rhineland-Palatinate
SL	Saarland	Saarland
SN	Sachsen	Saxony
ST	Sachsen-Anhalt	Saxony-Anhalt
SH	Schleswig-Holstein	Schleswig-Holstein
TH	Thüringen	Thuringia

LLM Extraction (Optional)

Enable AI-powered extraction for enhanced data quality:

1. Get an API key:

   • Groq (fast, cheap): https://console.groq.com
   • OpenRouter (more models): https://openrouter.ai

2. Configure extraction:

   {
     "llmApiKey": "gsk_xxxxx",
     "llmModel": "llama-3.1-8b-instant"
   }
   

3. What it extracts:

   • Job requirements (skills, qualifications, experience)
   • Company benefits (perks, compensation, work culture)
   • Contact information (name, salutation via LLM; email, phone, website via regex)

Via Apify Console

1. Go to the actor page on Apify
2. Configure input parameters
3. Click "Start"
4. Download results from the Dataset tab

Via API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/santamaria~stepstone-de-scraper/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "searchQueries": ["Softwareentwickler", "Backend Developer"],
    "location": "München",
    "radius": 50,
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
    "includeJobDetails": true
  }'

Performance & Pricing

Performance

• Search-only mode: ~100 jobs/minute (without detail pages)
• Full detail mode: ~20-30 jobs/minute (with detail pages)
• With LLM extraction: ~10-15 jobs/minute (depends on API speed)

Typical Compute Units (CU)

• 50 jobs (search only): ~0.002 CU
• 50 jobs (with details): ~0.01 CU
• 100 jobs (with details + LLM): ~0.03 CU
• 1,000 jobs (with details + LLM): ~0.3 CU

Technical Details

Architecture

• Platform: StepStone.de (server-rendered HTML)
• Crawler: CheerioCrawler (HTTP-only, no browser)
• Selectors: Data attributes and JSON-LD structured data
• Pagination: Automatic page-by-page crawling (25 jobs/page)
• Error Handling: Offline job detection (404), validation, retries
• Memory: 128-256 MB (vs 512-2048 MB with Playwright)

Data Quality

• Validation: Zod schema validation on all outputs
• Deduplication: Job IDs tracked to prevent duplicates
• Offline Detection: Flags expired/unavailable jobs
• Date Parsing: Handles relative dates (e.g., "vor 3 Tagen")
• Location Mapping: Automatic Bundesland detection from cities
• Contact Extraction: Email, phone, and company website via regex; names via LLM only (to avoid false positives)

Best Practices

1. Use specific searches: Narrow queries yield better results
2. Set reasonable limits: Start with 50-100 jobs for testing
3. Enable job details: Full descriptions provide much richer data
4. Use LLM extraction: For structured requirements and contact info
5. Monitor costs: Check CU usage for large-scale scraping
6. Respect rate limits: Use Apify's residential proxies

Troubleshooting

No jobs found

• Check if your search query is too specific
• Try broader location (e.g., state instead of city)
• Remove filters like employment type or experience level

Jobs missing details

• Ensure includeJobDetails: true is set
• Check if jobs are expired (they'll have job_status: "offline")
• Increase proxy quality if facing rate limits

LLM extraction not working

• Verify your API key is correct
• Check that llmModel is not set to "none"
• Ensure you have credits in your Groq/OpenRouter account

Support

For issues or questions:

• Apify Issues: Use the "Issues" tab on this actor's page
• Apify Community: https://community.apify.com

---

Part of the Santamaria Job Scrapers Suite - Professional-grade job data for the DACH region and beyond.

Other Scrapers

• jobscout24-ch: Swiss job market (11 cantons, 100,000+ jobs)
• stepstone-de: Germany (16 states, 200,000+ jobs) ← You are here
• jobs-ch: Switzerland's #1 job portal
• More coming soon for Austria, Netherlands, and other EU markets