Carlos Gomez is our Senior BD and Operations Manager in Kilpatrick LATAM. Carlos joined the company in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic and is now a highly valued member of our fast-growing LATAM team. He shares his journey within Kilpatrick and all ups and downs in this My Kilpatrick Experience. 

What is your role in Kilpatrick? 

Currently I’m the business development manager for Kilpatrick in LATAM. This means that I’m responsible for attracting new clients, generating new business leads, managing existing accounts, and developing new projects from them. Furthermore, it is my responsibility to oversee operations, and recruitment activities for several clients, particularly in the automotive, IT and logistics industries. 

How would you describe your team at Kilpatrick? 

I would definitely say that my team is very professional, young and multinational. It’s always a good opportunity to be able to work with people, with a variety of different backgrounds. I think that definitely enriches the business culture of a company, and I think that’s one of the biggest strengths of Kilpatrick.

What would you say makes Kilpatrick stand out? 

I think it’s difficult to answer that question, with just one element, but I would say that first of all  Kilpatrick has a very boutique-oriented and flexible approach to their clients. We are not a one size fits all recruitment agency, but rather we’re a company that tries to understand our customer’s needs and their culture/values to ensure all of the services that we offer are tailor made. In addition to that, it’s also interesting to mention that we are a company that is married with technology. We use internally developed software and platforms in order to enhance our customer experience and give the highest quality possible. Our responsibility with clients does not only mean sending CVS or profiles, which could be a potential match for a vacancy, but we also try to share advice in terms of market sentiment, salary levels and any other relevant information that could improve our client’s decision-making.

How has your professional career evolved? 

I have been in Kilpatrick for less than two years now, but I will definitely say that my role has grown from managing a couple of small projects to actually being able to deliver large scale projects. So for example, in the past three months, I’ve been responsible for restructuring the supply chain and finance areas of a large multinational automotive company in Mexico. This has been very enriching and has definitely allowed me to develop both soft and technical skills. 

What has been your biggest challenge, and how did you overcome it? 

I would say that  the biggest challenge that I faced while working for Kilpatrick was when I joined the team back in December, 2020. At that time, the COVID pandemic was at its highest and most fatal point. I joined a team that I didn’t know in person, and many companies were putting on hold their hiring plans. So to find and attract new clients and also to convince our existing clients to make hiring decisions were extremely difficult. Fortunately, this was overcome by ensuring the highest level of quality and our service to help clients make the proper hiring decision. When vaccines started becoming more and more available companies came back to business as usual and that was helpful for us as well. 

What has been the greatest achievement of the Kilpatrick LATAM team? 

I would say that doubling the number of placements in comparison to last year was one of our greatest achievements. It is proof that our clients value our work and they also like the quality of the candidates that we refer to them. Improving and strengthening the confidence that clients have in us is always great. From a candidate perspective, I will also say that the fact that people trust us to share their CVS and to partake in our recruitment process is always a great honor. 

What advice would you give to young professionals starting their careers?

I would say, always try to leave your comfort zone and try to take risks. There’s a very big probability that people will make mistakes, but that’s precisely what makes you grow and what makes you better at what you do. So taking risks and failing quickly, are two big lessons that people, especially at a young age, should take.