A thumbnail is the image that appears when you share a job ad or a page from your career site on social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, X or WhatsApp. It makes shared links look professional and attract more attention.
What is a thumbnail and what is it used for?
Social networks automatically read certain metadata when sharing a link - including the preview image. This image then becomes:
displayed as a thumbnail in posts
displayed in direct messages or chats
used as a thumbnail in link previews
A correctly stored preview image improves the visibility of your job advertisements and ensures consistent employer branding.
Recommended format and file extension
For optimal results we recommend:
Format: PNG (avoids compression artifacts, looks sharper)
Alternative: JPG (also works, but can be compressed more)
Recommended image size:
1200×630px
At least 600 × 315 px
Aspect ratio: 1.91:1
These sizes correspond to the recommendations from the softgarden builder of the career site Pro as well as the common social media standards.
Where do I change the preview image when using the standard layouts?
If you are not using a custom layout that was not provided by customer support, you can find the setting here:
Settings → Customization → Job advertisements
After selecting the desired standard layout, you can upload a new preview image or replace an existing one. This will ensure that the correct image is displayed when sharing your job adverts on social networks.
Important: Update the display in the job
In order for the new preview image to also be applied to published job advertisements, the display of the desired advertising channels must be updated using the three dots in the relevant job under the “Job exchanges” tab. Only then will the new preview image be technically transmitted to the job exchanges.
Who is responsible if I use an individual layout?
If you use a layout that does not appear in Settings → Customization → Job Ads, this custom layout was created by customer support.
In this case, the preview image must be adjusted directly in the layout or in the code. To do this, please contact your responsible person from the softgarden customer support team.
I am using Career Page Pro – are there specific settings for this?
Yes. With Career Page Pro, you can customize the preview image directly within the builder. To do this, follow these steps: Career Page Pro → Builder → Modern Job Ads → Select Layout → Click the gear icon in the top right corner → Scroll down to "Social Media Preview Image" and upload or replace the image there.
Finally, save the changes by clicking the green "Publish" button.
Important notes
You can set a unique preview image for each layout. This means that if you use multiple layouts, you can define an individual social media preview image for each one.
You can also set a preview image for the main page and multi-pages of Career Page Pro. You will find this setting in the builder under the respective page options as well.
I changed an image - what do I need to do to get it updated everywhere?
Social networks cache thumbnails. This means that even if you upload a new image, the old one may still be displayed.
In order for the new image to appear correctly, you should carry out the following steps:
Clear cache in the system — Clear the cache in your browser settings so that the new preview image is technically ready.
Use the incognito browser tab — Open the job posting in an incognito window to see a preview without cached data.
Update social media cache — Many platforms store thumbnails separately. Use e.g. the LinkedIn Post Inspector to re-read the new image.
How can I check which preview image is currently stored?
You can check the preview using the following tools:
LinkedIn Post Inspector: https://www.linkedin.com/post-inspector/
Facebook Sharing Debugger: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
X (Twitter) Card Validator: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator
These tools show you:
which image is currently being read
whether metadata is set correctly
whether a cache refresh is necessary