When a company tells you who they are, believe them. Henkel calls themselves “Pioneers at heart.” Cute slogan. But based on my experience, they’re pioneering new frontiers in ghosting, mismanagement, and how-not-to-hire.
I went through five interviews. Thoughtful prep, meaningful conversations, solid engagement — on my part. From their side? Nothing. No updates. No replies. Not one single human response from a recruiter, ever. Just an auto-reply after *months* saying the recruiter was on leave. Zero issue with the leave — but maybe have a plan in place so candidates don’t find out you’ve disappeared via an auto-reply.
Eventually, I was passed to another recruiter. I reached out. They didn't. And then, they disappeared too. The only person who had the decency to follow up was one of the panelists — not anyone responsible for actually running the hiring process.
And now? That same job is floating around on half a dozen agency sites, dressed up with new buzzwords, like they’re on the hunt for a mythical creature instead of a qualified human being. They are disorganized and unable to be professional. The process was so disorganized it honestly made me wonder how half of these people got their jobs in the first place.
Henkel loves to talk about servant leadership and values. But if you judge by behavior — not brochures — it’s a mess. If this is how they treat candidates, I can only imagine how they treat employees.
Avoid the black hole. They are absolutely not worth your time.