Electrica has concluded the first edition of Shadow Volt, a unique program on the Romanian market that gives young people direct access to the company’s executive leadership and decision-making processes.

Ana-Maria Constantin, Georgiana Dumitru and Eduard Frățilă are the three winners who, starting in October, will each spend one month working alongside Electrica’s CEO, CFO and CBDO (Chief Business Development Officer). Together, they will develop a joint project, with access to the company’s resources and a dedicated implementation budget.

The three winners were selected following a process that attracted more than 150 applicants and culminated in two days of challenges designed to test candidates’ way of thinking, ability to build and defend arguments, adaptability and response under pressure.

A total of 22 candidates qualified for the first day of challenges. Of these, 12 advanced to the final stage, while the 13th finalist was selected through a random draw. All 22 candidates were invited to participate in the second day, with 18 attending the final. The highlight of the second day was the announcement that all 18 participants would receive an internship within the Electrica Group.

Alexandru Chiriță, CEO of Electrica: “We did not start from the idea that we had to find the best CV. We wanted to see how people think when they do not have a ready-made answer, how they defend a decision and what they do when the plan they have just built no longer works. And we saw that in everyone who made it to the final day, not just the 13 finalists. That is why we decided to expand the offer.

A promise is a promise: we told them, right there in the room, that everyone present would receive a place in our internship program.

They will all have access to real decisions and resources. I want them to challenge us when they believe we are wrong and ask questions to which we may not yet have an answer. Otherwise, Shadow Volt would not achieve its purpose.”

Shadow Volt challenged the traditional recruitment model from the very beginning. Applicants were not asked to submit a CV to enter the competition, but rather an idea and the arguments behind it. For the three winners, the goal is not simply to observe an executive from a distance, but to work alongside them and develop a joint project with access to the company’s resources.

The program was open to graduates enrolled in a postgraduate program, as well as those planning to begin one in the 2026–2027 academic year.

During registration, candidates selected one of five topics proposed by Electrica:

• energy as a scarce resource in the age of artificial intelligence;
• trust between an energy company and four million people;
• achieving the energy transition without leaving anyone behind;
• the energy company of the future as a workplace; or
• a project that would make Electrica relevant to their generation.

The selection process continued with two days of challenges designed to assess how candidates analyze problems, find solutions, build arguments and adapt when circumstances and available information change.

A crisis simulation put candidates’ decision-making skills to the test

The final took place at the “Prof. Eng. Dimitrie Leonida” National Technical Museum in Bucharest. The 13 finalists competing for the three winning positions took part in WHITEOUT, an energy crisis management simulation.

Divided into three teams, the candidates took over the management of a fictional electricity distribution company on the night following an ice storm. They had decision-making authority, but limited resources and 60 minutes to develop a plan covering five key areas: the decision itself, the intervention strategy, the budget, the risks assumed and the public message to the press.

The evaluation was not based on how many consumers were “saved” in the simulation, but on the quality of the decisions: how priorities were established and justified, how situations that could not be resolved with the available resources were managed, and how clearly and honestly the teams communicated what was happening to the public.

The plans were assessed by Electrica’s management, while the public communication component was evaluated separately by a jury made up of journalists.

From October, Shadow Volt winners will join the Electrica team

For Ana-Maria Constantin, Georgiana Dumitru and Eduard Frățilă, the next stage begins in October. For one month, the three winners will work alongside the CEO, CFO and CBDO, gaining access to meetings, the executives’ day-to-day activities and analytical processes.

The experience will be structured in three stages. During the first stage, the participants will rotate through different areas of the company to gain an understanding of the business and how decisions are interconnected. They will then develop a joint project, followed by a final stage focused on testing and refining the outcome.

Electrica will provide the necessary resources, including the expertise of its employees, internal access, a dedicated budget and executive time. The results will be presented publicly at the company’s annual event, “Energy for Romania.”

Through its focus on candidates’ behavior in complex situations, Shadow Volt is designed not as a program for observing management, but as an experience in which young people become part of the decision-making process and receive the space and resources needed to turn their own ideas into projects that can be applied within the company.