See which jobs are worth your application.
Steppwell is an application tool for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It breaks every job ad down into its requirements, puts your profile next to it and tells you what kind of company is behind it. For every job ad, you get the same two answers: how far you meet the requirements, and who you would be working for.
A list of open positions turns into a ranking, and the ranking turns into a decision. After that, things move quickly: your cover letter and CV are written for that one job, and you practise the interview before it counts. Checking first does not make applying harder. It makes it shorter, because you only apply where it is worth it.
It's free, there's no account to set up, and your data isn't stored permanently.
Who it is for
Who Steppwell is made for.
Steppwell answers one question: which of the open positions is worth the work of an application? Most people asking it already have a job. They are not looking for a way out. They are checking whether a move would pay off, and they do it in the evening after work, with half an hour to spare and a dozen job ads open in their browser.
Finding jobs is rarely the hard part. The hard part is deciding which job ad to take seriously, and harder still is what comes with it: a move costs security, and no job ad tells you whether a position is worth that. The decision gets easier when the requirements, your own profile and the company sit side by side, judged by the same rule for every job ad.
The same goes for people new to the German-speaking job market. If you are moving to Germany, Austria or Switzerland, Steppwell shows you which requirements your experience already covers and where you still have gaps. There is more on the basics in our guide to working in Germany. If you would like to see Steppwell next to other tools, read job application tools compared.
How it works
How you work with Steppwell.
- You upload your CV once. Drag the file into the app as a PDF, DOCX or TXT, and Steppwell picks out your roles, your responsibilities and your skills. That becomes your profile. There are no forms to fill in and nothing to type up. Everything else builds on this profile.
- Steppwell makes the job ad readable. Search by job title and location, or paste the links to job ads you found elsewhere. Steppwell then separates three things in the text: the requirements you must meet, the ones that would be nice to have, and the places where the ad promises more than it actually asks for. If the title and the tasks do not match, you see it here. A job ad that says ‘senior’ but describes entry-level work stands out before you spend an evening on it.
- The match score shows how well your profile and the job fit together. Steppwell places your profile next to the job ad and compares them. Every job ad goes through the same check, so the scores are comparable. The score does not predict whether you will be invited. What matters more is what sits below it: which required skills your CV proves and which are missing. There is also a third group: skills you have but never named the way the job ad names them. You add those terms to your profile, as long as you can back them up, and your CV then contains the exact word the company is looking for. Whatever is still open, you know before you send, not in the interview.
- Your cover letter and CV are written for the job you chose. Once you have decided, Steppwell writes the cover letter and rebuilds your CV. Your strengths appear where the job ad asks for them, and everything else moves into the background. You choose one of three cover letter styles and one of four CV templates. You decide how the texts sound: upload something you wrote earlier, or write a few sentences in the editor, and Steppwell adopts your tone. Otherwise the company reads the same smooth, interchangeable letter as from everyone else who opened the same job ad. German applications usually expect a cover letter, known as an Anschreiben, and Steppwell writes it in the format employers there are used to.
- Before you send, you practise the interview. This is not an extra. It is the final step. You practise out loud, with your own voice, and Steppwell answers: sometimes like someone from HR, sometimes like someone from management. Steppwell knows the job ad and the company, so it asks about what the job really requires, including the points where your profile shows a gap. Nobody knows in advance which questions will come up in the real interview. But you will have said your answers out loud once before it counts.
All five steps belong to the same job ad. The requirements Steppwell picks out in step two are the same ones your profile is checked against, the ones that appear in your cover letter and the ones you are asked about in the interview. So you never have to explain anything twice.
The company
Know who is behind the job ad.
A job ad is exactly that: an advert. It tells you how a company wants to be seen, not what kind of place it is. So next to the job ad, Steppwell brings together what is publicly known: the company's website, Wikipedia and the commercial registers.
That gives you a picture the job ad does not. How many people work there, how much revenue the company makes, whether it is growing or holding steady. And above all, what kind of employer you are dealing with: a young company that is scaling fast, or a family-owned business that has been around for forty years. When you are asking yourself how secure a job would be, that often matters more than the salary in the ad.
Steppwell's conclusions from these facts are shown separately, so you can always tell fact from assessment.
Speed
Better documents, finished faster.
It is tempting to think that checking every job ad first takes longer. The opposite is true. The check takes minutes, not evenings, and it saves you the applications that would have gone nowhere anyway. What is left goes faster than usual, because the requirements, your profile and the company are already there when your cover letter and CV are written.
At the end, you download both and apply yourself, the way the job ad asks: through the company's form, by email or through the job board where it was published.
And nobody notices. Steppwell is not a candidate marketplace: your profile is never offered to employers, and nothing is sent in your name. You can look around for as long as you like without your current employer finding out.
Jobs
Where the job ads come from.
Steppwell pulls current job ads from job boards in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. As soon as your CV is in, the job ads that best fit your profile move to the top. It is not an endless feed but an order for your limited time: first the jobs where an application makes sense at all, then the rest, or none of them. If you already found a job ad elsewhere, on a job board, on LinkedIn or on a company's own site, just paste the link. From there, everything works the same way.
Pricing
What it costs.
Trying it is free and needs no account. After that, you choose a pass for 14, 30 or 60 days with everything included: job search, match score, a cover letter and CV for every job and job interviews with your interview coach. No subscription; the pass ends on its own. You will find the details under pricing.
Questions
Frequently asked questions.
What is Steppwell, in one sentence?
A tool that shows you, for every job ad, how well your profile meets the requirements and what kind of company is behind it. Based on that, you decide which application to write, and Steppwell writes the cover letter and CV for it and helps you practise the interview.
Is Steppwell a job board?
No. Steppwell is an application tool. The job ads come from current job boards, and Steppwell takes it from there: whether the job fits you, who the company is and which documents belong with it.
Does applying with Steppwell take longer?
No. Checking a job ad takes minutes. Everything after that goes faster than usual, because the requirements, your profile and the company are already in front of you when the cover letter and CV are written. You end up writing fewer applications, and each one takes less of your time.
Will my current employer find out I am looking?
No. Steppwell is not a candidate marketplace. Your profile is never offered to employers, and Steppwell never sends anything in your name. You download your cover letter and CV and apply yourself, whenever and wherever you want.
How is the match score worked out?
Steppwell places your profile next to the text of the job ad and compares the two. The score shows how close they are. Below it, you see exactly which requirements your CV covers and which it does not. The score does not predict an interview invitation. It helps you decide whether this application is worth the work.
Can I apply in English?
Yes. You can upload your CV in German or English, and Steppwell writes your cover letter and CV in German or English. Many employers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland still expect German documents, especially outside international companies, so it is worth checking the language of the job ad first.
Do I need an account to see jobs?
No. You can see the publicly available company details straight away. To score a job against your profile, Steppwell needs your CV.
What does Steppwell do with my CV?
You upload it once, and Steppwell turns it into your profile. That profile is compared with every job ad you open. A new CV is only written once you have chosen a job.
Is my data safe?
Steppwell complies with the GDPR. Your data is processed to provide Steppwell to you, not to train AI models. You can download or delete everything in the app at any time.
Where does Steppwell get its company information?
From public sources: the company's own website, Wikipedia and commercial and business registers. That is where size, revenue, age and growth come from. Steppwell's own assessment is shown separately from the facts, so you can always tell one from the other.
Does Steppwell send my application?
No. You download your cover letter and CV and apply the way the job ad asks you to: through the company's form, by email or through the job board where the job ad was published.
Will the documents sound like me?
Yes, if you give Steppwell something of your own. From texts you have written yourself, Steppwell picks up your tone and writes your cover letter and CV the way you would.
Who is behind Steppwell?
Mentabay, based in Berlin. The website is steppwell.de, and the app runs at app.steppwell.de. You can reach us at service@steppwell.de. The legal details are in the legal notice.
Is Steppwell free?
Trying it is free and needs no account: on the homepage you see your 5 best jobs. For everything else, choose a pass: 14 days for €14.99, 30 days for €24.99 or 60 days for €39.99, all including VAT. Every pass includes everything: job search, match score, a cover letter and CV for every job and job interviews with your interview coach. No subscription; the pass ends on its own. You will find the details under pricing.
Find out whether the job deserves your application.
It's free and there's no account to set up. Upload your CV and see your best jobs with the match for each. Checking, writing and practising all belong to the job ad you choose.
It's free, there's no account to set up, and your data isn't stored permanently.