There are many undiscovered talents in the Salesforce ecosystem. The Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Stars to Watch (STErs to Watch) is a series highlighting employers who give a chance to people to change their careers and move into a tech industry with limited technical knowledge. This time we want to celebrate ACTUM Digital on hiring Adela as a Salesforce Consultant.
“When I hire new talent, my gut instinct guides the decisions I make – and so far, it’s always paid off” explains Martin Humpolec, Salesforce Division Director at ACTUM Digital. “When someone gives you a positive gut feeling, there’s usually a very good reason for it. It’s because you’re faced with raw talent just waiting to be given a chance to flourish.”
A digital-first business, ACTUM Digital is a Salesforce implementation partner based in Prague, Czech Republic, that delivers a number of digital services, e.g. website development, ecommerce, product data management, and much more.
To be such a business, ACTUM looks for specific people when it hires. People who either have a technical background or possess the mindset that will help them acquire it. “How we hire at ACTUM depends on what we’re hiring for,” says Martin. “If I’m looking to hire someone for a one-off project or some sort of implementation, I may focus more strictly on credentials and the proverbial CV only. If the goal is to hire long-term talent that we want to nurture, then it’s all about the feeling I get from the candidate. The credentials are far less important.”
Hiring for potential, investing for the future
“It’s an exciting equation,” he continues. “There’s no binary yes/no when it comes to hiring someone based on the potential talent alone. You have to trust your gut and go with it. What we really look for is how these individuals break problems down and the angles they take to do so. We often discover some groundbreaking new ideas when a problem usually reserved for a specific discipline is handed to someone new to that discipline.”
Martin believes that people unfamiliar with a problem or certain area of a business often come up with more unusual — sometimes game-changing — approaches because they are more willing to challenge the status quo. Consistency is by no means a bad thing for businesses. But organisations do need people who force them to think differently if they want to continue innovating.
Adela, one of the gut-feeling hires Martin made some time ago, is such a case. “Adela’s background is very different to where she’s ended up at ACTUM,” says Martin. “She worked her way up from receptionist to mortgage analyst at a small financial consulting firm but she felt like she wasn’t being challenged. Everything was becoming routine and there wasn’t much room for her to grow.”
Adela was at a bit of a crossroads, so she decided to take a transformative step. “Adela had little to no experience in IT, but that didn’t stop her growing interest in the field from shaping her next steps,” Martin explains. “She came across a no-code course for CRM specialists by accident and, in her words, was hooked from the get-go. She completed the course and gained her first certification.”
How to grow the ACTUM way
After getting certified, Adela applied for a position as a Salesforce consultant. True to her nature, she was being proactive and sought out this opportunity. Martin was impressed. “We gave her a technical case study to present as part of her application,” he says. “She immediately demonstrated attention to detail, language and presentation skills, confidence and fluency, all delivered deftly and above expectations.”
So, what does Adela have that has made her journey so successful? Martin believes it comes down to a combination of focus, work ethic, and dedication to improve. “Regardless of your background or past work experience, there will always be some skills you can transfer. Adela uses her people and analytical skills to be a razor-focused Salesforce consultant at ACTUM,” he explains. “And that journey started over a year ago.”
What final words of wisdom does Martin have? “Keep your eyes open for people who come to you, not the other way around,” he concludes. “Yes, absolutely look for talent and the right people to strengthen your team. But bear in mind that, whether you’re aware of it or not, there’s a good chance you’re looking in the same place too often. When talent has made the effort to come to you, make the effort to keep it.”
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