Community Reflections on Salesforce Training and Certification
Learning is more fun when you do it in the community! Dreamforce attendees working on Trailhead trails together.
From New Year’s Resolutions to New Jobs
The new year often sparks conversation around resolutions, new quests and challenges for the upcoming calendar year. We asked the Salesforce.org Community in the Power of Us Hub to share some of their personal experiences on new roles, new jobs and how Salesforce training and certifications helped get them to where they are today.
Let’s see what they had to say!
Why Being Salesforce Certified Helps Your Career
Nick Lindberg, Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota
This fall I started a new job as the System Admin at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. With the new job, there have been loads of new items to learn, including different Salesforce products they are using. Two big items I have really grabbed ahold of are the Higher Education Data Architecture (HEDA) and Salesforce DX. I may be ten years into my Salesforce journey, however, each day on the new role shows there is still much more to learn about Salesforce. Thank goodness for Trailhead!
Mark Adcock, Appirio
I entered 2018 with only an Admin cert and a goal to work on professional and career growth. It was a focus I had personally, rather than just something about my job. I invested time and money in training and certifications as well as the Salesforce.org sprints and became really active in the community. I went from 1x Certified to 7x Certified over the course of a year! I was able to make the jump from working with a few nonprofits on the side to making my career as a full-time consultant, working for a great partner Appirio. I now help nonprofits and higher education institutions get the most out of Salesforce. It was a truly transformative year.
Samantha Shain, William Penn Foundation
I got my first cert in between a job interview and a job offer. When the HR representative called me to offer me the job (which I accepted! … and a cert wasn’t required for this particular position) I then said, “So great to hear from you! I was actually going to call because in between our last conversation, I earned my first Salesforce certification!” And then she said, a bit flustered, “Oh that’s great! I was actually calling to offer you the job!” and then we negotiated my salary. I felt proud to bring my expertise to this organization, and even though my expertise didn’t change between before and after I got the cert, I take pride in having the credential because I’ve worked so hard to grow my knowledge and skills.
Jennifer Lange, Crisis Assistance Ministry
I had been an accidental admin, stumbling through Salesforce with some help from HandsOn Connect (a managed package) but then I took an Admin Certification class. It has made all the difference! The things I learned in that class – and in achieving my Admin Cert – have made me more confident and more importantly – more connected to my local Ohana and the online Ohana. I am doing things I never thought I could do! Automating emails and record creation and such. Simple stuff, but nothing I ever thought I’d get to.
Aparna Kothary, Global Citizen Year
I completed my Certified Administrator exam and it confirmed two things for me: my passion for working at the intersection of technology, and the power of community support. At Dreamforce 2016, I heard about a group in the Hub called GirlForce (now Amplify) running certification study groups to help more underrepresented voices make their way into the Salesforce ecosystem. I joined a study group and met some incredible people who were also studying for their first certification. This experience introduced me to an incredibly supportive community which I am still part of today. As an avid Salesforce user for the last 10 years, it was natural that I took on a de-facto Admin role at Global Citizen Year, my current organization. This “accidental” role turned into something much more purposeful in 2019. As the new Director of Technology Operations (a completely new role at our org!), I am looking forward to working across our entire organization to understand how we can better use technology to serve our students and our team.
Work in higher ed and want to get Admin certified this Spring?
Whether you’re ready to embark on a new career path or looking to expand your skill set, there’s no better place for making change than in San Diego, California at our 7th Annual Higher Ed Summit. This year we’re offering a discounted rate to get Salesforce Administrator Certification Training while attending the Summit. Join us April 15-18, to take the next step in your career, and connect with the global higher ed community to learn and share ideas, make new connections, and be inspired. Higher Ed Summit is much more than an ed tech conference – it’s a community celebration, a space for personal and professional development, and a glimpse into the future of education.
*NEW!* Salesforce Administrator Certification Training
Monday, April 15 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Cost: $700 Note: When registering, this registration fee is separate from the main conference registration fee of $300.
By covering the details around the exam objectives, this course will help hone your problem-solving skills and reinforce your knowledge of key topics. Instructors will present different administration and configuration scenarios tied to the exam objectives. Questions related to these scenarios will help prepare you for your exam. Class includes an exam at the end of the day.
Need more information about Higher Ed Summit? Visit our website or connect with fellow Salesforce customers in the Higher Ed Summit 2019 Group in the Hub.
Are you interested in attending a Salesforce training or learning about how to get certified?
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