“I believe that most private employers avoid [recruiting] people from state institutions. If you have two vacancies and 40 applicants, you will probably call the people whose experience is useful to you to an interview. The requirements in the state system are completely different from the requirements of private employers,” said consultant Adrian Stanciu, Managing Partner of Human Synergistics.

According to Stanciu, in the private environment, even in extremely bureaucratic companies, initiative and performance are a must. “It will take a former civil servant a few months to adjust,” Stanciu added. Marius Bostan, Managing Partner of VMB Partners, said that civil servants have a handicap when competing with former private employees for the same job, “but they can also have a slight advantage, as they know the public system very well, and know how things work in administration.” If the state had initiated its administrative reform last year, when Romania had a broad workforce deficit, those laid off would surely have found jobs in the private sector, Stanciu added.