2020 was the year in which Mercado Libre broke all records on Wall Street: it became the most valuable Argentine company in history and is currently the Latin American company with the largest capitalization, exceeding US$96 billion.

This growth is not accidental: in addition to the good work of management and continuous diversification, last year saw a boom in the two key businesses of the unicorn throughout the region. And Argentina led global growth in both sectors:

With the tailwind of the pandemic, digital core firms posted an unprecedented uptick, and as a result, their need for professionals also grew. According to LinkedIn Data estimates provided to iProUP, about 150 million positions will be created in this branch of activity, of which 2 million will correspond to Argentina.

Several chambers of companies in the Knowledge Economy sector even presented the Government with a project to generate more than 500,000 jobs in the short term and exports that will exceed US$10,000 million a year. Thus, it would be located only behind the soybean complex, which sold abroad for US$12,000 million in 2020.

In this search to find the best talent, the e-commerce giant maintains more than 2,000 open positions throughout the continent. Together with Globantu, it even invested $10 million to grant scholarships to young people from Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil, whom it will train as programmers based on a curriculum agreed upon by both unicorns, which will be dictated by Digital House.

"At Mercado Libre we are committed to building one of the best places to work in the region and the world. We are convinced that this is how we attract good talent to lead each market in which we operate and capture the great opportunities that lie ahead" Carolina Miranda, Talent Acquisition Director at Mercado Libre tells iProUP.

And it reveals: "Today we are almost 7,000 employees in Argentina and more than 15,000 in the region. During 2020, we added more than 2,100 net positions, which means a growth of 42% in the country in one year. At the regional level, we grew more than 46% compared to the previous year.

But he's not the only one on the "hunt for talent." What do the technological ones have that are presented as the most desired when looking for a job?

What do they seek?

Although working in these companies is very attractive since it offers the possibility of "playing in the big leagues" and they grant important benefits and juicy salaries, passing the interviews and the entire selection process is somewhat complex.

"In the interviews, both the technical skills for each profile and the human skills are analyzed, since it is considered that "soft" skills or soft skills play a fundamental role, especially in crisis contexts," Roberto Manguel, Managing Director, explains to iProUP. Director of Experis, ManpowerGroup Argentina.

And he adds: "The ability to constantly acquire skills is also highly valued. That is, training in new market trends, learning to adapt with curiosity, a positive attitude in the face of new challenges that allow you to develop knowledge. The sum of this results in a very complete professional who is prepared to face changes".

On the other hand, the director of the Hire agency, Teresita de Velazco, indicates to iProUP that "among the requirements sought are flexibility, openness and energy to face new projects. In addition, she emphasizes that "you must have perseverance to sustain them."

For his part, Alejandro Servide, director of Professionals & RPO at Randstad Argentina, points out to iProUP "the most valued qualities in a candidate who wants to develop his career plan in a technology company":

For example, to enter the company led by Marcos Galperin, much more emphasis is placed on the "Free Market culture" than on technical knowledge.

According to the unicorn executive, this knowledge "can be gradually incorporated: the most important thing for us is that it vibrates with our culture, that it can assume a leading role, take risks in changing contexts and, above all, have the agility to learn all the time" .

Ernesto Mendizábal, CEO of OLX Autos Argentina, one of the five Creole unicorns, adds to iProUP that "the qualities sought are those that we possess as a company and share daily with our staff."

"Values ​​such as professionalism, integrity, results orientation, teamwork, flexibility, enthusiasm and learning ability are our pillars, and we hope that they are also for our next collaborators. I would add adaptation and love for change", he completes.

From Google Argentina they also provide iProUP with their views on potential candidates: "We believe that our products can only be as great as the Googlers who create them, that's why the hiring process is one of the most important things we do and it can be long" .

What to do (and what not) in an interview

Broadly speaking, both companies and agencies agree on several points when defining the profile sought. Although there is no "manual" of what to do and what not to do, to aspire to fill a position in a unicorn there are certain tips that are very helpful.

"In the hundreds of interviews I've conducted, the most common mistake of the applicant is to come as someone who is presented to a firing squad or to an examination table," says Leo Piccioli, former country manager of Staples Argentina, TEDx Speaker and expert in leadership and business culture.

And he adds: "An interview is a mutual dialogue. Modern companies need, more and more, people with a leadership attitude, humility and curiosity. If I could recommend something concrete and effective it would be: show your capacity through your questions".

For its part, from Google they warn that they do not usually hire people who only think about problems, "or just want a job, who prefer to work alone, applicants with narrow skills or interests, who only live to work, and finally candidates who whether political or manipulative", they complete.

"There is no single person who can make or break a hire, but the participation and feedback of different Googlers in the interview process is a critical component for the incorporation of the right people," they add.

According to the company, "candidates are interviewed by at least one Googler who works in a completely different department to ensure that we are recruiting someone who is a good match for the company as a whole."

Mendizábal, from OLX, assures that they value when they observe "naturalness and sincerity, having all the information about themselves well defined and avoiding hiding information. We cannot ignore the well-valued, but sometimes forgotten, punctuality. The candidate must take advantage of this space to clear up any doubts about the company's processes and work", he remarks.

Based on the above, consulting experts and hiring professionals agree that these are the six key points to have a "successful" interview:

Regarding the CV, from Randstad they assure that every candidate must have a curriculum that contains the keywords referring to the specific knowledge and experiences related to all the tools that he dominates.

"We recommend that you include a professional photo, updated data detailing work experience, explaining projects, describing tasks, languages ​​and systems used," adds Servide.

The expert also adds four tips for the resume:

Although no suggestion guarantees access to an "ideal position", following some of these tips and advice can pave the way and open the door to fulfilling the dream of working on a unicorn.