A 'Salesforce For Africa' edition.
Yesterday I had a great opportunity to attend the first virtual agentforce workshop in Africa by the African trailblazers. Jennifer Ndlovu (Woman In Tech), ThankGod Onyekachukwu Okoro
This was a great experience, creating my 5th agent using Agent Builder, interacting with experienced admins, and people who are passionate to learn what this ‘Agentforce’ is and how they can upskill and get hired.
Since I first started this journey, I have experienced support and the meaning of Trailblazer communities in Africa and also from other parts of the world.
Some of the remarkable people who have showed up and given us a few tips about the Salesforce ecosystem and what to expect include Leah McGowen-Hare, MSEd, Miguel Milano, Jerôme Verwater, Scott Stafford and other Trailblazers outside our continent who have responded to our emails, given time and resources to show support.
A question I have heard from people in Africa just getting started.
'How do we catch up with the rest of the world?'
It's going to be harder to catch up but we can only start where we are and use the opportunities being presented for us.
I will share 10 tips I have gotten along the way.
I hope that feeling like a newbie and not knowing where to start doesn’t stop you from taking the first step towards a great tech career and reaching your unlimited potential.
- Trailhead is free and available globally for you to learn and practice Salesforce forever as long as you have internet access.
- Be a hard worker and be someone that people want to work with, collaborate; your skills are needed somewhere.
- What is for you is yours, but you have to do the work. Do the superbadges and modules, be consistent, and reach out to people in the community, Salesforce customers, and recruiters.
- Nobody is coming to save you, no one owes you anything. The only limit to learning and upskilling is yourself and your lack of drive and focus.
- The first goal isn’t getting hired at Salesforce, it’s to get skilled and help customers implement and automate business processes in Salesforce. That’s where you are going to make the biggest impact.
- Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. As you continue searching for your next role, keep up with the industry updates, interview questions, and do not stop learning.
- It’s all about perspective. The problems we experience in Africa, e.g., lack of job opportunities, are not unique to us. Look and apply for positions outside the continent, and do not let these circumstances limit you from reaching your goals.
- Better know the product. Understand Salesforce and how and why businesses are using it. Use superbadges to learn these real business use case scenarios and what to expect.
- Continue to be consistent and focus on being really good at what you are doing. If you really want it, you can get it.
- Get into AI and agentforce now. ‘AI will not replace you, people using AI will’.
It will be very hard to be the very best admin or Salesforce developer in the market, but the demand for AI skills is going to be higher than supply, and that’s where the future opportunities are.
Create agents; do not limit your understanding to only what Salesforce is offering; do more research and stay curious.
If you want to know what's happening in Salesforce Africa, make sure to follow the following accounts Salesforce For Africa Jennifer Ndlovu (Woman In Tech) Capeforce.org African Women In Salesforce Community
Trailhead: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/today
Build your first agent: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/projects/quick-start-build-your-first-agent-with-agentforce
#SalesforceForAfrica
