Over the past decade, Salesforce has focused on developing a skilled workforce for its ecosystem. This started with the launch of Trailhead back in 2014, which has been constantly innovated to develop fresh talent.
A major focal point of Salesforce has been the “Trailblazer” movement. At its core, this focused on developing talent from non-IT backgrounds – providing individuals with new skills to level up their careers in a high-growth industry.
Over time it’s become apparent that, for Salesforce and its thousands of partners, theoretical online training is only one piece of the puzzle; individuals need hands-on experience to give them a taste of real-world Salesforce implementations and projects.
To Salesforce’s credit, over the past few years, they have doubled down on programs to help bridge this gap. These have come in the form of the Talent Alliance, Pathfinder Program, and Salesforce Fundamentals.
Salesforce is now announcing three new initiatives to create new opportunities for individuals looking to switch careers, and to boost the number of skilled Salesforce professionals.
1. Trailblazer Workforce Partner Program
Salesforce announced the “Trailblazer Workforce Partner Program” to help prepare 20,000 new Trailblazers for jobs in the ecosystem by 2028. In line with Salesforce’s mission to democratize education, Salesforce have partnered with more than 500 nonprofit, higher education, and workforce development organizations to teach Salesforce skills.
You may be familiar with some of these organizations such as Supermums, RefugeeForce, and Salesforce Military.
With this new partnership, Salesforce will bring exclusive access to Salesforce curriculum and content, a collaborative community of workforce partners and employers, and marketing support to scale their programming.
This program will also intersect with the Salesforce Talent Alliance, a program of more than 1,000 employers who are committed to hiring new and diverse talent.
“Salesforce is committed to preparing the next generation of Trailblazers for in-demand career opportunities. With the Trailblazer Workforce Partner Program, we’re thrilled to extend the reach of our workforce partners who are opening new doors to the tech industry. We encourage companies everywhere to invest in a diverse workforce by hiring talent from these programs.” – Leah McGowen-Hare, SVP of Trailblazer Community at Salesforce
2. “Hire Me” Button
A few years ago, Salesforce launched the Trailblazer.me profile. Connected to Trailhead, the profile gives Salesforce professionals the opportunity to show their certifications, Trailhead credentials, and work experience, in a unified resume.
Salesforce is now adding a new “Hire Me” button, which gives professionals the ability to indicate interest in new work opportunities, whilst enabling hiring managers to connect and message potential candidates in a single click.
3. Expanding the Pathfinder Program
Finally, Salesforce are continuing to grow their Pathfinder Training program, which provides free, immersive Salesforce training to help people launch careers in technology.
Salesforce has announced that, this year, 25 Salesforce partners and customers will be a part of the employer partner program – with 15 joining for the first time. Each has committed to hiring Pathfinder graduates.
“NeuraFlash is excited to partner with the Pathfinder Training Program… Not only is this program a fantastic career enabler for the individuals that participate, but it also produces talent that has a proven focus and drive to succeed in consulting. An absolute win-win for all involved.” – Jim Hunt, COO at NeuraFlash
Register your interest in upcoming programs right here.
Summary
It’s great to see Salesforce further enabling the ecosystem and constantly making room for fresh talent. These new initiatives are bound to help so many people, and I’m sure Salesforce will continue to provide innovative new methods of enriching the community.
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