diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 38f2762b..31dd0203 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 .idea/
 .vscode/
+.classpath
+.project
+.settings/
 target/*
 coverage*
 dist/
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/zeebe/http/HttpJobHandler.java b/src/main/java/io/zeebe/http/HttpJobHandler.java
index 007b066e..93c96700 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/zeebe/http/HttpJobHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/zeebe/http/HttpJobHandler.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import java.net.http.HttpClient;
 import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
 import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
+import java.net.http.HttpHeaders;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
@@ -51,6 +52,8 @@ public class HttpJobHandler implements JobHandler {
   private static final String PARAMETER_METHOD = "method";
   private static final String PARAMETER_BODY = "body";
   private static final String PARAMETER_AUTHORIZATION = "authorization";
+  private static final String PARAMETER_CONTENT_TYPE = "contentType";
+  private static final String PARAMETER_ACCEPT = "accept";
   private static final String PARAMETER_HTTP_STATUS_CODE_FAILURE = "statusCodeFailure";
   private static final String PARAMETER_HTTP_STATUS_CODE_COMPLETION = "statusCodeCompletion";
   private static final String PARAMETER_HTTP_ERROR_CODE_PATH = "errorCodePath";
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ public void handle(JobClient jobClient, ActivatedJob job) throws IOException, In
     if (hasFailingStatusCode(response, configurationMaps)) {
       processFailure(configurationMaps, jobClient, job, response);
     } else if (hasCompletingStatusCode(response, configurationMaps)) {
-      final Map<String, Object> result = processResponse(job, response);
+      final Map<String, Object> result = processResponse(job, response, request);
       jobClient.newCompleteCommand(job.getKey()).variables(result).send().join();
     } else {
       // do nothing
@@ -128,11 +131,17 @@ private HttpRequest buildRequest(ConfigurationMaps configurationMaps) {
         HttpRequest.newBuilder()
             .uri(URI.create(url))
             .timeout(CONNECTION_TIMEOUT)
-            .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
-            .header("Accept", "application/json")
             .method(method, bodyPublisher);
 
-    getAuthentication(configurationMaps).ifPresent(auth -> builder.header("Authorization", auth));
+    getAuthorization(configurationMaps).ifPresent(auth -> builder.header("Authorization", auth));
+
+    // if no accept or content type header then default to json
+    getContentType(configurationMaps)
+      .ifPresentOrElse(contentType -> builder.header("Content-Type", contentType),
+      () -> builder.header("Content-Type", "application/json"));
+    getAccept(configurationMaps)
+      .ifPresentOrElse(accept -> builder.header("Accept", accept),
+      () -> builder.header("Accept", "application/json"));
 
     return builder.build();
   }
@@ -144,12 +153,24 @@ private String getUrl(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
         .orElseThrow(() -> new RuntimeException("Missing required parameter: " + PARAMETER_URL));
   }
 
-  private Optional<String> getAuthentication(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
+  private Optional<String> getAuthorization(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
     return configMaps
         .getString(PARAMETER_AUTHORIZATION)
         .map(auth -> placeholderProcessor.process(auth, configMaps.getConfig()));
   }
 
+  private Optional<String> getContentType(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
+    return configMaps
+        .getString(PARAMETER_CONTENT_TYPE)
+        .map(contentType -> placeholderProcessor.process(contentType, configMaps.getConfig()));
+  }
+
+  private Optional<String> getAccept(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
+    return configMaps
+        .getString(PARAMETER_ACCEPT)
+        .map(accept -> placeholderProcessor.process(accept, configMaps.getConfig()));
+  }
+
   private String getMethod(ConfigurationMaps configMaps) {
     return configMaps
         .getString(PARAMETER_METHOD)
@@ -201,20 +222,38 @@ private boolean checkIfCodeMatches(String statusCode, String matchCodePattern) {
       || (statusCode.startsWith("5") && matchCodePattern.contains("5xx"));
   }
 
-  private Map<String, Object> processResponse(ActivatedJob job, HttpResponse<String> response) {
+  private Map<String, Object> processResponse(ActivatedJob job, 
+    HttpResponse<String> response, HttpRequest request) {
     final Map<String, Object> result = new java.util.HashMap<>();
-
     int statusCode = response.statusCode();
     result.put("statusCode", statusCode);
-
-    Optional.ofNullable(response.body())
-        .filter(body -> !body.isEmpty())
-        .map(this::bodyToObject)
+    Optional<String> respBody = Optional.ofNullable(response.body())
+      .filter(body -> !body.isEmpty());
+    String acceptValue = request.headers().firstValue("Accept").orElse(null);
+    // If accepting plain text
+    if (hasContentTypeHeader(response.headers(), "text/plain") && 
+      ("text/plain".equals(acceptValue))) {
+      respBody.ifPresent(body -> result.put("body", body));
+    } else {
+      // Assuming json by default
+      respBody.map(this::bodyToObject)
         .ifPresent(body -> result.put("body", body));
-
+    }
     return result;
   }
 
+  private boolean hasContentTypeHeader(HttpHeaders headers, String contentTypeHeader) {
+    boolean hasContentTypeHeader = false;
+    try {
+      hasContentTypeHeader = Optional.ofNullable(headers.firstValue("Content-Type"))
+      .filter(contentType -> contentType.get().contains(contentTypeHeader))
+      .isPresent();
+    }catch(Exception e) {
+      System.out.println(e.toString());
+    }
+    return hasContentTypeHeader;
+  }
+
   private Object bodyToObject(String body) {
     try {
       return objectMapper.readValue(body, Object.class);
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/zeebe/http/ProcessIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/io/zeebe/http/ProcessIntegrationTest.java
index 85b65ea9..87ddffbd 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/zeebe/http/ProcessIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/zeebe/http/ProcessIntegrationTest.java
@@ -103,6 +103,56 @@ public void testGetRequest() {
     WIRE_MOCK_RULE.verify(getRequestedFor(urlEqualTo("/api")));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetAcceptPlainTextResponse() {
+
+    stubFor(
+        get(urlEqualTo("/api"))
+            .willReturn(
+                aResponse().withHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain")
+                .withBody("This is text")));
+
+    final var processInstance =
+        createInstance(
+            serviceTask ->
+                serviceTask
+                    .zeebeTaskHeader("url", WIRE_MOCK_RULE.baseUrl() + "/api")
+                    .zeebeTaskHeader("method", "GET")
+                    .zeebeTaskHeader("accept", "text/plain"),
+            Collections.emptyMap());
+
+    ZeebeTestRule.assertThat(processInstance)
+        .isEnded()
+        .hasVariable("statusCode", 200)
+        .hasVariable("body", "This is text");
+
+    WIRE_MOCK_RULE.verify(getRequestedFor(urlEqualTo("/api"))
+        .withHeader("Accept", equalTo("text/plain")));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void failsIfDoesNotAcceptResponseType() {
+    stubFor(
+        post(urlEqualTo("/api"))
+            .willReturn(aResponse().withHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain")
+            .withBody("This is text")));
+
+    final var processInstance =
+        createInstance(
+            serviceTask ->
+                serviceTask
+                    .zeebeTaskHeader("url", WIRE_MOCK_RULE.baseUrl() + "/api")
+                    .zeebeTaskHeader("method", "POST"));
+
+    final var recorderJob =
+        RecordingExporter.jobRecords(JobIntent.FAILED)
+            .withProcessInstanceKey(processInstance.getProcessInstanceKey())
+            .getFirst();
+
+    assertThat(recorderJob.getValue().getErrorMessage()).isNotNull()
+        .contains("Failed to deserialize response body from JSON");
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testPostRequest() {