Salesforce Invites Future Tech Leaders to San Francisco for New Computer Science Pre-Internship
At Salesforce, we love our Futureforce interns. Every summer, they share their energy, passion and innovation with us — questioning the old way of doing things, taking on projects that have a real impact on the business, and making our employees, company, and communities better for having worked with them.
Our Futureforce program has helped us attract, retain, and cultivate the next generation of leaders at Salesforce, some of the most diverse and global employees at the company. We continue to invest in our interns and each year we convert up to 80% of our eligible interns to full-time employees.
Today, we’re proud to expand the program with Futureforce Tech Launchpad, a new pre-internship program, powered by CodePath, that will provide underrepresented students in computer science access to hands-on technical training, capstone projects, and mentorship earlier in their career journeys.
Developing the next generation of tech leaders
Starting in June 2022, we’ll invite 25 rising college juniors to our headquarters at Salesforce Tower in San Francisco for a 10-week, in-person experience with technical curriculum and one-on-one mentorship with Salesforce employees.
Students will be introduced to full-stack web development, and gain an understanding of database, back-end code, front-end code, testing, design and deployment, culminating in a capstone project of their choosing that will be presented to Salesforce employees and peers. In addition to technical skills, students will develop soft skills, such as networking, collaboration, communication, and presentation.
All of our pre-interns will receive compensation, benefits, and a relocation stipend to help maximize the experience and be immersed in the Salesforce culture. They will have opportunities to connect and collaborate with our Futureforce interns, so they can hopefully return as interns and, ultimately, as employees after graduation. And just like all of our Futureforce interns, Launchpad participants will receive paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) to devote to causes they believe in.
To bring this program to life, Salesforce is partnering with CodePath, a nonprofit committed to increasing diversity in tech by transforming college computer science education for underrepresented minorities and underserved populations. CodePath will work in partnership with more than 70 universities, including HBCUs and HSIs, as well as its community of over 10,000 students to help identify computer science and engineering students to participate in the Futureforce Tech Launchpad. CodePath will also provide the curriculum and instructors for the program.
“Underrepresented minority and low-income students in computer science (CS) are more likely to drop out or switch majors before their junior year, and as a result, miss out on the work experience needed to launch successful tech careers,” said Michael Ellison, CEO at CodePath. “Salesforce’s decision to launch the Futureforce Tech Launchpad demonstrates inspiring corporate leadership and represents a bold commitment to eliminate systemic inequities in both computer science education and technical recruiting for communities of color.”
We look forward to welcoming, and learning from, the next generation of tech leaders this summer. We are committed to building a diverse pipeline of engineers and technical talent, and making meaningful careers in software engineering accessible to all.
