Building your first team in another country

Expanding into another market almost never fails because of the product. It fails because of the team: the first local hire that didn't work out, the six months lost finding them, the manager who quit after a year because nobody understood what they expected. We recruit people in Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, and we've supported several expansions within LATAM. This is what we see repeat itself, for better and for worse.

The foundational mistake: copying your home country's playbook

The most natural thing in the world is to search in the new country with your own country's criteria: the same profile, the same salary band "converted", the same interview process. And it's the source of almost every problem, because each labor market has its own unwritten rules:

• Salaries don't convert, they get benchmarked. The reference is what the local market pays for that role, in local currency and with the benefits that market considers basic. A generous offer in your country can be mediocre in the destination, and the other way around.
• Job titles don't mean the same thing. A "manager" in one market can be a middle manager in another. Comparing CVs across countries without translating real seniority levels leads to interviewing the wrong people.
• Interview culture changes. The level of formality, how much gets negotiated, which questions are normal and which are uncomfortable, how much stability is worth compared to risk. Signals that in your country indicate a lack of interest are pure courtesy in another, and vice versa.
• Even talent scarcity is different. The same ManpowerGroup global survey shows the gap: in 2025-2026, 64% of employers in Argentina and 81% in Brazil reported difficulty filling vacancies. The same profile that shows up in two weeks in one market demands an active search and a more aggressive offer in another.

The first hire defines the next ones

Nobody will supervise your first local employee day to day. They'll be your eyes on the market, your face to your first clients and, very soon, the person helping you choose the next hires. That's why the criteria for that first role aren't only technical:

1. Proven, real autonomy. Look for evidence that they built things without a structure around them. The brilliant executor from a large corporation can get lost without the machinery that used to surround them.
2. A cultural bridge. They have to work in two worlds: the local market and your headquarters. Language, yes, but also knowing how to translate expectations between the two work cultures.
3. Loneliness-proof motivation. The first months of a new operation are lonely, with more problems than wins. In the assessment we look for signs of tolerance for that stage, not just enthusiasm for the project.

Evaluating from a distance can be done, with method

The classic objection: "how am I going to hire someone I've never met, in a market I don't know?". The honest answer: with more process, not more intuition. In-depth interviews conducted by people who know the local market, competency-based assessment with verifiable examples, a psychometric assessment when the role calls for it, references taken seriously. And something that helps a lot: having someone in the process who speaks your company's language and the candidate's, literally and culturally.

The operational side exists too (but it doesn't define you)

Legal entity, direct employment or hiring through a third party, payroll taxes in the destination country: all of that has to be resolved, and each country has its particularities. Our advice is not to let the legal structure define the team: first find the right person, and how to hire them gets resolved with the right advice. The reverse (hiring whoever was easy to hire) is expensive.

How we work it

BYS operates in Argentina, with a presence in São Paulo for local searches in Brazil and a local recruiter in Mexico. For an expansion, that means: we map the profile with your headquarters in your language, we search and interview in the destination market with local criteria, and we present you a vetted shortlist with the context you need to decide from a distance. Same process, same 6 days, same 3-month guarantee.

Is your company building a team in another LATAM country? Tell us where you're going and which role you need first. That initial conversation costs nothing and usually saves months.