Edouard de Romrée is an early-in-career professional, who decided to change his career direction. Thanks to Salesforce Workforce Development Partner BeCode, Edouard was able to learn the technical skills he needed to become a Campaign Developer. We invited him to share his story of changing careers.
Please introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Edouard, I’m 25 and I live in Namur; a charming town in Belgium. I currently work as a Campaign Developer at Springbok Agency. When I finished high school, I went to university for 2 years to study Law but had to quit for personal reasons. Consequently, I went straight back to work, joining the store I used to work at as a student. I soon became Assistant Store Manager, but I felt like I needed a change. I needed to be intellectually stimulated and work in a field that fit my goals and aspirations. That’s why I decided to “reinvent myself” and choose a new career path. I went through 7 months of intensive training at BeCode, learning the basics of coding including HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.
How did you learn about Salesforce?
Once you have trained with BeCode for 5 months, you get an opportunity to choose your own specialisation. Around the time that I had to select mine, BeCode introduced a Salesforce track.
Coming from a family of Marketers, where my three sisters all work in Marketing, meant that I had some understanding of what CRM was. So, I researched Salesforce, and the different products and solutions available, and I immediately saw the many and varied career opportunities in the ecosystem and hence decided to select the Salesforce specialisation.
How did you find the course?
For two months, I was mentored by a Salesforce Consultant from a nonprofit organisation. He gave me a selection of Trailhead trails that he had created.
I was impressed with Trailhead — you can find everything on it! For example, if you want to learn about a specific Salesforce product, you can find a module on it. Moreover, the platform is very intuitive and easy to use.
In 2 months I learned a tonne about Salesforce! I even reached the Ranger rank and passed my first Associate certification!
How much time did you need to find a job and how did the job hunt go?
I searched for about 4 weeks whilst continuing my training. I was looking for an internship to validate my technical skills and to see if the job would be a good match for me. I saw many opportunities and job offers! I was reassured by the choice I had made. Someone at BeCode put me in touch with Springbok. From our first meeting, it felt right. They immediately told me they were interested in taking me on as an Intern and, if all went well, hiring me full-time.
What is your job like?
I spend a lot of time automating marketing campaign processes that can be very time-consuming for customers. As part of my job, I create fully customisable email integrations using AMP Script, one of the Marketing Cloud languages. I also use Journey Builder to automate the customer journey. Here’s a small example: sending a birthday email to a registered customer. In short, my job is to make life easier for our customers!
Do you need soft skills in your job?
Of course! I think teamwork is the most important soft skill to have! Sometimes we work with other agencies to understand the client’s projects better. I need to be a good listener, which helps me to respond to customer expectations in the most effective way. Being curious and eager to learn, especially when you come from another industry as the Digital Marketing world moves at a fast pace!
How well did the course meet your expectations in terms of salary, job opportunities and learning new skills?
A year ago, I decided to change my professional life. Now my internship with Springbok ends in a few days and my contract with them starts immediately afterwards. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better career change. I’ll be able to continue learning on a daily basis in my new job.
What have you gained since participating in the training program?
I was able to pick up a lot of technical skills! Trailhead helped me a lot in the final stages of my training. The platform is so cool when it comes to learning. It’s all gamified. It’s absolutely changed my life! My confidence at work has grown.
What do you like about Salesforce?
I don’t even know where to start! Salesforce allows users to do whatever they want, the interface is so intuitive. They can have so much fun and be so creative.
What type of people would you recommend Salesforce to?
Anyone who wants to learn! No matter your level of technical expertise, Salesforce is open to everyone.
We invited Zoë Wouters, HR Officer at Springbok to discuss the experience of having Edouard on their team:
Why did you decide to hire Edouard?
Our Marketing Automation team is growing fast and we needed some reinforcement. While we were looking for a senior profile, and still are, we thought BeCode would be a good partner to look for motivated Junior Talent to work with us.
BeCode immediately put us in contact with Edouard. We met him at the Brussels office and instantly had a good feeling about him. Edouard is highly motivated and eager to learn. Besides his skills, he is also very pleasant and loves to laugh. He fits in the team perfectly!
What has Edouard brought to your company?
Edouard has a very positive attitude, it’s very nice to have him around!
What are the benefits of hiring talent outside the traditional tech background for companies?
Many of these candidates already have previous working experience, so they are mature. Perhaps even more than the majority of Juniors who just finished school. They are also more likely to have a wider scope of soft skills from their previous professional experience.
People who turn their world upside down to change careers have a goal-oriented mindset. They know where they want to go and are determined to get there. Getting such people aboard is always a win!
If you would like to embark on your journey and are interested in a career at Salesforce, we recommend visiting our workforce development partner directory to find a course which is the most suitable to your demands. You could also visit the Talent Alliance website to find additional resources for job seekers. If you would like to submit a success story of your own, use this form. And we have our LinkedIn group where we share success stories, events and motivation.
