Applied and had my first phone interview approx. 3 weeks later. Since I lived abroad and Zalando DOES NOT PAY travel costs for interviews, I was offered a Google Hangout session for a second interview.
Within the interview process, Zalando Erfurt always kept their appointments/ promised, often getting back to me earlier than forecasted.
Since I was not willing to agree to anything without having been on location and having met people in person, I agreed to travel from NL to D on my own costs beginning of January. after this third interview, I received a first offer.
The initial offer did not meet my expectations, after which I negotiated and eventually agreed to a salary, secondary benefits and potential starting date on Feb 14 2018.
I was told my contract would be prepared and then.... nothing.
Apparently Erfurt was not allowed to sign the contract on location but had to send it to HQ/Berlin, where it was stuck for 6 weeks, before I was informed that the position had been CANCELLED IN THE MEANTIME.