EAE News
EAE students compete in Banco Santander's SmartTalent challenge
05 de June de 2019
Two finalist teams took part in the talent acquisition challenge organized by the financial institution.
Banco Santander has organized a competition for young talents, SmartTalent, to put their capacities to the test while resolving problems and optimizing services. In this change proposal activity, the bank valued the participants' ingenuity and creativity, offering a cash prize (a 5,000 euro incentive) to the teams that successfully resolved the two challenges set in this national young talent competition.
EAE Business School's Professional Careers Department gave its full support to the students selected for the challenge run by the financial institution. Macarena Rojas, from the Master in Marketing and Sales, Gonzalo Duque, from the Master in Project Management and Christian Bedón, Virginia Tejada and María Sánchez-Conde from the Master in Design Thinking and Customer Experience took part in Santander SmartTalent, the young talent acquisition event.
The participants chose between the two challenges set by Santander: Digital Innovation or Artificial Intelligence. They split into teams to work and then, at the end, defended their project in an elevator pitch. In the first stage of the competition, Macarena Rojas and Gonzalo Duque's team developed a marketplace that offers the option of buying directly through its own platform. The second challenge involved a predictive model for managing short-, medium- and long-term savings.
Macarena and Gonzalo explained that all the tests were based on the Design Thinking methodology, with participants presenting proposals of innovative ideas that generate engagement with the young target market. The activities that they took part in included "ideas generation, business model canvas, empathy map, user journey, MVP and, lastly, an elevator pitch to present the idea". The hardest challenge for them was preparing the pitch because it had to be short and entertaining, encapsulating a complex and technological idea in structured way.
The EAE described the organization of the SmartTalent event as entertaining. They really enjoyed the experience. "We were made to feel really welcome by Santander and the whole team". "Santander went to great efforts to generate networking opportunities with all the other participants, while we enjoyed a range of sandwiches together. Meanwhile, the jury had a multidisciplinary profile, which enabled us to get different perspectives on the idea and the way of working", they added. In the participants' opinion, their team complemented each other well. They also emphasized the high level of the competition. "All the groups were strong and came up with innovative ideas that approached the challenge in really different and unique ways".
Gonzalo and Macarena focused on the Professional Careers Department at EAE Business School. "As soon as EAE found out that we had been selected as finalists for this challenge, they gave us so much support". The School's Talent Acquisition and Employability team contacted an expert on the Barcelona Campus to guide the students selected to take part in Santander's SmartTalent challenge.