Ever wondered what it’s like to work at Salesforce EMEA? We’re going to introduce you to some of our fantastic women in technology here on the blog - check back to see more and bookmark our careers site to start your own #dreamjob!
Over to you Diana...
Everyday is like a fingerprint: you know where they are on your hand, and yet they are all varied and unique. I think that is one of my favourite things about my #dreamjob! Usually it starts when I am hopping into bed rather than out of bed. I take a look at my calendar the night before to refresh my memory of what’s on tomorrow.
My alarm wakes me usually around 6-6:30 AM. I meditate using Headspace for 20 mins then enjoy my almond milk coffee.
08:00: I’m up, dressed and walking briskly into Salesforce Tower.
08:30: There are a lot of emails that come in overnight when you work for a global company, so I prioritise those.
10:00: I have an interview with a great candidate for my team of solution engineers. A solution engineer crafts specific solutions for customers. We sit and discover what those challenges are, what the value is and then consider how we could solve it using Salesforce! This candidate is motivated, asks great questions and would be an excellent culture fit for my team. Culture fit, and in particular the Salesforce Ohana Culture, in my opinion is one of the most important aspects when hiring. It’s one of the few things that cannot be easily taught (unlike product knowledge or presentation skills), so finding a good fit in this area is paramount.
11:30: For a recent addition to the team, Paul, it’s time for peer certification. This is where Paul gets to present to a team of his peers (plus me) each of our solutions. It’s a character role play which makes it more fun. For today it’s all about Service Cloud, so I play the role of Customer Service VP while Paul’s mentor plays a service agent and our local Service Cloud specialist solution engineer plays the Service manager.
We have a thorough onboarding process for all new team members which includes seven peer certifications on the various clouds, along with the external Salesforce exams on administration and app builder. In this case, Paul has confirmed the current company challenges, covered off business value for all the people in the room, shared a relevant local customer reference and answered key questions about a competitor - so he passes with flying colours!
13:00: Customer lunch meeting. I always enjoy meeting with this customer, and over sushi, we speak about their usage of Salesforce, innovation and growth targets for their customer base. We also chatted about which events they are planning to attend this year, with the upcoming Salesforce World Tour London top of the list, as well as Dreamforce in San Francisco, and some local developer days. But mainly we focus on how we can partner more closely with them to accelerate their growth.
15:00: Every year I have my entire team create a self summary of their performance over the past year reviewing their V2MOM [Vision, Value, Methods, Obstacles, Measures], which is our company standard for creating personal plans for the year. These are completely transparent - anyone in the company can view anyone’s V2MOM and see what they’re focused on. Then I go through them all and start writing my own thoughts using examples, badges and feedback from their peers. It’s critical to the team’s development and career.
16:30: One of my favourite parts of my day, and has been these last 8.5 years at Salesforce, is spending time with not-for-profit groups through salesforce.org, our integrated corporate philanthropy model which entitles me to volunteer up to seven days of my time - amazing!
Today’s non-profit is called Fearless Futures, and I speak with their CEO, Hanna, who is overflowing with passion, incredible facts and figures for a new volunteering event I’ll be helping out with. I’ll be working with school age girls to allow them to ‘multiply’ the knowledge and skills they have developed in the Fearless Futures programme and helping them to run social change projects in their schools, so that 12 girls reach a further 120! The project is all about ensuring young women feel more confident having a voice, feel more knowledgeable and are fully participating in shaping our collective futures!
18:00: The day comes to a close with a feeling of accomplishment...now to see my personal trainer *sigh*
21:00: Back home for dinner with my fiance and relaxing time - night night
Thanks goes out to Diana for giving us a behind the doors glance into her life! To find out about the possibilty of working at Salesforce, and finding your dreamjob, please visit our careers site.
