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Purpose This study investigates how senior human resource (HR) executives in Mexico evaluate graduate competencies when assessing team performance and leadership potential, thereby addressing a key gap in work-based learning research in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 77 senior HR professionals (68% at the managerial level or above; mean experience = 8.3 years) representing key Mexican economic sectors to test the hypotheses. Nine competencies were evaluated using validated instruments (Cronbach's a = 0.71–0.87). This study examines employer perceptions rather than actual signaling mechanisms or hiring outcomes. Analytical rigor was ensured using Firth's penalized logistic regression, exact logistic methods, and bootstrapped confidence intervals to address small-sample challenges. Findings The results support a dual-pathway competency model. Moving from low to high cross-cultural collaboration increases the predicted probability of exceeding team performance expectations from 18% to 87% (OR = 1649.45, p < 0.001), whereas moving from low to high visionary thinking increases the predicted probability of high leadership potential assessment from 12% to 91% (OR > 1,100, p < 0.001). Professionalism was negatively associated with leadership potential (OR = 0.04, p = 0.003), suggesting context-dependent interpretive patterns. These findings reveal that HR executives apply fundamentally different evaluation criteria depending on the role being assessed. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences regarding competency development pathways. This study examined employer perceptions rather than actual hiring outcomes or job performance. Context-specific patterns were inferred from the Mexican professional sample rather than directly measured using validated cultural instruments or cross-national comparisons. However, these findings require validation beyond the Mexican context. Practical implications The findings support differentiated skill-development pathways within work-integrated learning curricula. Business schools should design distinct tracks, such as team-focused programs emphasizing collaborative competencies (e.g., the “Global Virtual Teams Project,” which requires international partner collaboration) and leadership-focused programs prioritizing strategic competencies (e.g., the “Strategic Foresight and Innovation Leadership” program, which features multi-year scenario analyses). HR departments should implement role-specific evaluation rubrics with distinct criteria. Originality/value This study provides the first empirical evidence of role-specific competency evaluation patterns among Mexican employers, demonstrating that identical competencies receive dramatically different valuations across assessment contexts. The expert-informant methodology combined with robust small-sample analytics provides a replicable template for employability research in data-constrained emerging economies. In practice, the findings provide a dual-pathway competency guide that helps universities design work-based learning curricula aligned with employer decision-making logics and helps HR practitioners distinguish competencies associated with day-to-day team effectiveness from those associated with leadership potential. The model translates into actionable assessment and feedback practices that can strengthen graduate work-readiness initiatives in Mexico and comparable labor-market settings where employability hinges on transferable competencies.