SF Saturday & New Cert!

I apologize for not keeping up with regular posting. Its been a crazy few weeks. I’ve been trying to wrap up a CPQ implementation during the day, studying hard at night for my Sales Cloud Consultant exam, and working to have great events for South Jersey #SalesforceSaturday, oh and trying to fit family time in there too

Salesforce Saturday 
South Jersey Salesforce Saturday has now had its second and third events. The second event was good, but I received some feedback that a slightly more structured agenda may be beneficial, but not to lose the networking time. So what does one do when they are issued a challenge…

…you accept it, that’s what! Seriously, what else did you think I was going to do? Tell them to pound sand and send them to a Dynamics user group meeting instead?? WHOA! Sorry…too soon? I wouldn’t submit any friends to that kind of torture.

Anyway.

So I rose to the challenge. My initial thoughts when I created this group was to keep content as general and high level as possible so that it would speak to an entire audience that included admins, developers, users, non profits, and those who don’t even know what Salesforce is, so I attempted to do that with the new structure.

This month, I tried having 2 presenters. Each had 30-45 minutes to present content and answer questions as they went. They were very casual presentations with the first discussing the Salesforce Ohana and how to utilize different channels in the community (success, chatter, twitter, etc). It was created and presented by me , and thankfully was able to borrow some content from Amy Oplinger (@SalesforceAmy). You can download my presentation here in PowerPoint format: SF Community Preso

Next, we had a presentation from Chuck George at CSS Tec who have been focusing on placing experienced Salesforce professionals. Chuck went through the current hiring landscape in the Salesforce ecosystem. He detailed what skills and experience his clients look for, titles, certifications, etc. He also gave tips on interviewing and keeping your resume up to date and relevant

Let it be known that I am typically not a supporter of staffing/recruiting companies but CSS Tec helped place me in my current position. I must say, they were incredible to work with. They truly care about the client they are representing as well as the candidate. They were 100% up front and honest with all details bout the position, expectations, and compensation. There were no  surprises. They followed up when they said they were going to and were a class act every step of the way. They STILL reach out from time to time to say hello. Overall, a great experience.

Special thanks to Chuck for a killer presentation that sparked a lot of great conversation, as well as John Enny at MTS Software Solutions for graciously offering his companys’ meeting space for our meeting.

New Cert!!

Salesforce Certs are like potato chips, you can never have just one. I earned Admin in June 2016, App Builder in October 2016, CPQ Blue Belt in January(?), and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I knew that my long term career goal is Solution Architect, so after crowdsourcing which direction I should take, Sales Cloud Consultant was the next stop on the Certification journey.

I am happy to say that as of 3/22/2017, I am now also a Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant!!  Say that 5x fast….

Thanks to all friends in the Ohana that helped me study, and especially the GifSquad for their ongoing support and guidance.

Until next time!