Intro note: I respect Orange Romania as a brand, however, I want to actively contribute to elevating HR & employer branding standards in Romania by flagging unprofessionalism and giving other potential candidates transparency/info - so they don't waste their time as I did, and maybe get a decent/professional treatment in the future (if Orange sees this).
Orange Romania - Candidate Journey
The HR Representative was very professional/involved in the talent attraction phase. After completing all the selection steps pretty fast (1st intro call, time-consuming practical challenge, VC with the PR Head, VC with the Romanian PR team), she did not come back with a clear answer (just that the team was still deciding), basically keeping me on standby for many weeks (while I believe they were looking for a candidate with lower salary expectations - that's just my thinking of what happened, not confirmed in any way). I was misled that I would get an answer in a week then received a deadline estimation, then was ghosted and kept hanging... for weeks. When I reached out to the HR via email/text/call she either did not answer/delayed, or argued that the PR team was still debating, that she had a personal emergency, that she had some days off, that she will come back with the final decision at a specific date/hour, that she will call back at a specific date - none of these actually happened => culminating with the HR representative finally informing me via a long SMS (after not answering my text and call) about the final decision (that they chose someone else) and saying that another HR rep was involved (she went on holiday) and that this is why things got messy. The HR mentioned we could have a feedback call the following week but I completely lost interest in further speaking with them, because of the way communication was handled. I was basically put on hold through lack of comms/answers to my inquiries, to wait - while the HR knew I was also in discussions with other employers and needed an answer or at least some updates (without me asking once a week what is happening). The experience was very unpleasant and it made me question the People Culture at Orange Romania and the overall level of professionalism. Hope you guys level up HR & Employer Branding, as a local telekom market leader.